Rise from the Cinder
by TheBerserkDickRidingClub
Summary: So...this is my first fanfic ever... Let me say this now: I don't consider myself a fan of Rwby. I've seen every episode of the main series but not all of the "World of Remnant" series, so I apologize if I screwed anything up. Also, I AM a huge fan of villains, so after watching Volume 5, I just really wanted to do something with them, and here's where Cinder's redemption begins.
1. Chapter 1, Stranded

Chapter 1, Stranded

The four friends embraced, having ended the anticipated battle at Haven academy. Their teachers and fellow teammates all felt the same level of fatigue and relief, pleased that the enemy had suffered a devastating defeat tonight. The four girls then separated, the dark-haired and blonde girls standing next to each other, hesitant to utter a word despite the fact both wanted to hear the other speak.

"So…I guess, this is the part where I get down on one knee and beg your forgiveness, right Yang?" The dark-haired girl said to the blonde, who raised her right hand to show the mechanical prosthetic.

She smiled and exhaled through her nose. "Well, a lengthy apology's a start…and a copy of one of your Ninja-romcoms with a strawberry-sunrise wouldn't hurt either!" Yang said, followed by the dark-haired girl smiling and Yang continuing. "I…guess we have a lot to talk about, huh Blake?"

Blake could hear one of her friends behind them talking to her other two teammates, a blonde boy with a monkey's tail loudly congratulating them. "You have no idea." She replied.

"Holy crap, you two look great!" He shouted at the two girls, one with short black hair and the other having white hair with a ponytail coming off the side. The short-haired girl blushed and smiled at the teenager's compliment while the white-haired girl simply smirked with her arms crossed. "So, Ruby, how's it feel to be the leader of two teams? I mean, I thought I had it rough with my own back at Beacon, but you're, like, NEXT level of badass for leading two! She's a real riot, right Weiss?!"

"Oh…yeah, well, it's not that bad, Sun. I mean, everyone's been improving since Beacon fell…" Ruby paused, looking at Weiss, recalling that enormous lancer and knight she created with her Aura.

Weiss simply looked away. Remembering the quick incident with Cinder impaling her, then the event a few seconds prior where Ruby's eyes lit up the entire room, Weiss continued, "Well, there's still room for improvement. Now that your hand-to-hand has paid off, maybe we should start asking Ozpin and your uncle about your eyes."

Ruby's face turned a burning red. "Oh! How did I forget about them? Why didn't I ask Ozpin when I had the chance? Oh, I'm so dumb!"

Sun began laughing and patted Ruby on the head. Wiess decided to humor Ruby. "Well…no one on our side died as a result, and we have the relic, so I guess now's as good a time as any to start training."

Then it hit her: when she went out cold because of her eyes, what became of Cinder? She turned her gaze toward Jaune, the former leader of her current team, who was laughing alongside his own teammates Ren, a man with long black hair, and Nora, a girl, with short orange hair. All the anxiety crawled back into her mind, recalling their deceased former teammate, Pyrrha, and the sudden news from Yang that Cinder, the warrior responsible for Pyrrha's demise, had met her own.

"Could…you two excuse me?" She said, their faces washing over with concern but also trust. They both nodded and Ruby walked over to her teammates. Once there, she tapped Jaune's shoulder.

"Uhm, Jaune…did you…hear about-" Ruby steadily began, only for Jaune to interrupt her.

"-Cinder?" He said. Ruby fell silent. "Hmph. Don't worry, Ruby. I'll admit, I'm kinda disappointed I wasn't able to defeat her, nor the one to do it." Ruby looked the other way. "But…at least now, Pyrrha can rest in peace."

Ruby smiled at Jaune's optimism. Finally, after several months of training and desire for revenge, closure had been brought and justice had been done.

Just as Ruby was about to hug Jaune, the blonde paladin said, "Hopefully Cinder's burning in Hell where she belongs." Ruby's smile died to a look of worry and concern. Not helping was the sincere and calm face Jaune made as he said that. How could someone say something so malicious with a comforting smile and gaze?

It was then that Ruby recalled when Tyrian, another warrior who worked alongside Cinder, discovered Ruby's team at an abandoned village, looked at Jaune and said he liked him most out of all of them. Though Jaune's remark just now made her uncomfortable, Ruby looked around and noticed everyone was packing up and heading for the exit, Jaune following suit.

"Come on, Sis! Let's have dinner! Uncle Qrow says we'll need to head out come sunrise!" Yang yelled as her team was exiting the building.

"Okay! Coming!" Ruby yelled, being the last one out the shattered remains of what was once the door and its wall. She couldn't help but think of Cinder; what drove her to be like this? If her subordinates, Emerald and Mercury, were nothing more or less than just that, could they be considered evil as well? What about Lionheart's betrayal? Does everyone have a breaking point to where they sacrifice their everything just to stay alive?

"Oh!" Ruby recalled Lionheart's escape, and ran to her uncle.

* * *

Crickets were chirping; the only sound accompanying the orchestra of insects was the cool night air as it flew through leaves and trees. This sequence of sounds, however, only drowned out the sniffles and squeals that lay deep in the forest, two kilometers away from the immense battle that had just taken place. The sniffles and tears that rained on the ground belonged to a woman, most likely in her late teens, with green hair and dark skin. She sat down on a rock with her head in her hands, trying to keep composure after the confirmation that their master was MIA, most likely dead. Next to her were two men, one was young yet had gray hair and the other was almost seven-feet-tall, muscular, and wore a shirt with its sleeves torn off. The larger man had been talking to someone on his scroll, finishing with, "Thank you, m'lady."

As the girl continued bawling, the gray-haired man walked towards the muscular man.

"Hazel, Salem coming for us?" He asked the larger man.

"Yeah, she's using her ability to locate us right now, then we can get back to the castle." Hazel answered. He looked over to the green-haired girl. "You, uh, mind taking care of that, Merc?"

Mercury focused on the girl and walked over to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, only for her to shrug it off in anger. When she stood up and looked at him, his heart sank at the sight of her eyes; what used to be white was now pink and irritated, and her eyebrows cocked downward to form an arrow. Mercury couldn't recall any other time his teammate had ever looked so angry.

"Look, Emerald-" Mercury began.

"Shut up!" Emerald interrupted. "I don't give a damn about any of you, or Salem, or Ozpin, Ruby, the relics, the maidens…the goddamn Faunus!" She screamed in his face.

Mercury put his hands up in a "cool down" mannerism. Even Hazel looked concerned by his teammate's angst.

"All that work, all that time we spent with her and for her…now…" Emerald sounded as if she was running on fumes. Her tone died down to almost mumbling. "…now she's gone."

"Well…" Mercury thought to himself. "If there's any time and place to lower my guard, guess its now and here." He turned one last time to Hazel, making eye contact and signaling to give them some time alone. As soon Hazel turned around and move a few meters away, Mercury approached Emerald again and placed his hand on her shoulder, this time without resistance.

"Listen to me." He told her, her eyes focusing on his. "You're not the only one who's depressed, y'know." Emerald's eyes widened in surprise. She looked up at her gray-haired teammate. Though he wasn't crying, his eyes looked irritated and his lip and cheek were both shivering. He didn't even notice his grip on her shoulder tightening. "She rescued both of us; we both have an eternal loan to pay her, and we _will_ pay it."

Catching Emerald off guard, Mercury pulled her into a gentle hug. Emerald didn't have the strength to resist, neither physical nor emotional. As a result, she just put her face on his shoulder and hugged back.

Mercury recalled the night he first met Cinder and Emerald. After being forced to kill his father and burn down his own home, he had nowhere to go. That was the most traumatic night of his life; giving death to the man which gave him life. Then, as if planned by destiny itself, a woman, accompanied by Emerald, showed up mere moments later. Mercury was stunned when he first saw her; her amber eyes beneath her raven-black hair, her curvy figure with flawless skin, all accompanied by her calm and seductive voice. All of this added on top of the fact that she arrived right after he lost everything. To Mercury, Cinder was living proof that fate and destiny were real, and she would be the driving force in the next chapter in his life. She was an Angel in his eyes, and he would do whatever he could to please her and stay at her side.

In the heat of this moment, Mercury whispered in Emerald's ear, "We need a new plan." All of Emerald's thoughts and emotions came to a halt. She looked up at Mercury and noticed he was normal again. "We owe Cinder a debt, not Salem. I mean, Tyrian got his tail chopped off, hazel got his ass handed to him twice tonight, the White Fang's a lost cause, and we have to assume Raven's not on our side anymore." Emerald continued listening to her teammate, realizing the sinking ship they were currently on.

"Pardon me." A strange voice called from the hill above, instantly catching everyone's attention. "I heard your lead singer's dropped out of the band. Mind if I audition?"

They recognized him immediately upon noticing his horns and rose-shaped hair: Adam, a former commanding officer of the White Fang terrorist organization. However, former was a confusing term; he still wore the mask that covered his eyes, yet they just suffered a heavy defeat and Hazel recalled him killing the former head of the White Fang.

Hazel approached him. "We may have the same enemy, but why should we even consider adding you to our numbers?"

"Because your numbers just dropped about half-an-hour ago." He answered. "Like you said, we have the same enemy, and…I honestly don't have anywhere else to turn to. What's say we help each other out?"

Though half of his face was masked, it was covered in arrogance and smugness. Emerald and Mercury didn't forget that, before the fall of Beacon, Cinder ordered the three of them to attack Adam's chapter of the White Fang. If he's asking for help now, he's obviously desperate, but definitely wouldn't save any of their skins in a tight situation.

Suddenly, a small hover ship, flying low to the ground, came to a halt and landed beside the group. Out of it stepped a man with short black hair and moustache.

"Glad to see all of you are at least alright." He remarked.

"Yeah, thanks Watts." Hazel replied. Adam jumped down from the hill. "So, uh, I don't know if Salem mentioned anything about-"

"Cinder?" Watts interrupted, Mercury and Emerald snapping to attention. "Yes, Salem contacted me mere seconds after you finished speaking with her. A true tragedy and my sincere condolences." Emerald tightened her fist at that last comment, doubting Watts had even one ounce of sympathy or empathy in his body for her.

"Well, it's not like there's no silver lining." Adam intervened. "I've had experience leading armies and taking out targets even Atlas's best soldiers were responsible for."

"Yeah and look how that turned out!" Emerald shouted. "Get outta here. We don't need you."

"You didn't let me finish…" Adam continued. "I have, however, a long list of solo missions that I've succeeded in and I'm willing to learn how to function in a small unit instead of a large army. Whaddya say?" Adam extended his arm to shake Watts's hand. Not even a second later, thunder clapped across the sky and caught everyone's attention. Time was running out. Watts grabbed his hand and shook it.

"I'd rather let our master make the final decision, just fair warning." Watt calmly alerted him. Adam didn't even blink underneath his mask. He had nothing to lose or go back to, and this somehow excited him, unlike Emerald and Mercury who were now wishing they'd killed him back in Vale. All five people walked onto the hover ship, and so the storm began.

* * *

 **10 minutes earlier**

"Cold…" Was her first thought. "Falling…" Was her second. "Need…to break…free."

As she descended deeper into the chasm, the young woman began activating her powers. With her human arm, she tried to create fire to melt the ice that imprisoned her entire body. The drops of water ascended upward as she continued to fall and thaw her way out. Once weak enough, the fire shattered the ice and her was free. She then spread the fire throughout her entire body and the ice began melting away.

"Come on, come on!" She thought.

The ice around her finally shattered, all except for her left arm, which couldn't produce Aura. Now worried about hitting the ground, the woman activated her ability to levitate. As she continued falling, an orb of wind formed around her, and she gained momentum, but too little too late.

She still fell to the ground, her body making a loud thud as it hit the chasm bottom, accompanied by a terrible snapping noise, the orb of wind disappearing. She couldn't see anything, not even her hand in front of her face. All that was made clear to her was the excruciating pain in her right ankle. Lighting a fire in her palm, the woman took note of her surroundings, all solid rock and nothing else. She examined her foot, the glass high-heel still attached to it, and her ankle was sprained from the fall. She heard the sound of running water from behind her, and, trying to fight the pain of her injured foot, stood up and lit her way towards the sound.

Unexpectedly, there was an enormous hole in the wall, probably three meters tall and five in length, surprising the woman, and she became even more shocked to see her ears weren't lying to her. Through the enormous hole was a short path that lead to an underground river, but the most intriguing part was not the convenience of the hole's position, but of how perfectly squared in shape it was.

"Is this…an emergency exit?" The woman wondered. "This place should be at least as old as the relics, which was before modern technology. Maybe this was the original exit?"

As she asked herself these questions, she heard what sounded like two women shouting from above. She recognized both voices, one more than the other.

"Raven. Yang Xiao Long." She angrily said through her teeth. The woman looked back at the exit in the wall one last time before powering up her flight capability.

Almost a kilometer above the ground the woman stood on, two other women stood on a platform which held a door that brought light to the underground. One of them had jet-black hair and wore red and black armor. She was sobbing, a feeling of regret that she hadn't felt in…actually, she couldn't even recall the last time she felt this way. The blonde, her daughter named Yang, was walking into the light now, only to walk out holding an odd gold and blue object. She dialed the elevator to go up and after stepping onto the platform and ascended back up to the surface, still holding a heavy weight of disappointment towards her mother in her heart.

Cinder smashed her other arm against the wall, its still iced over figure shattering into pieces. This arm, however, was not human, but was made from the substance of grimm. Upon shattering, her arm instantly regenerated, and she levitated back up to the platform.

The elevator made its final stop in the foyer, Yang staring down at both her teammates and enemies, but it was now made clear whom the victors were. Lionheart was nowhere to be found, nor was Raven. All that remained of the opposing force was Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel, none of whom felt any shred of optimism in their situation. Emerald was on all fours, bawling at the assumption that Cinder, her master and role model, may have been dead.

"Emerald, get up." Mercury firmly told her.

Down underground, Cinder stood on the platform, her ankle still pained, and pulled out her scroll, only to realize the lack of reception. She cursed under her breath. Looking around for a few seconds, she spotted the control panel to the elevator. She limped over to it, but as she was about to call the elevator down, a foreboding thought crossed her mind.

"What if…Raven's already back on the surface? If she is, then she's probably slaughtering everyone up there already." Then the thought of Yang came to her. "If Yang truly was down here, did Raven kill her? She did say she intended on killing Qrow, despite him being her brother…no, I would've seen a corpse, even on my way up."

On the surface, Emerald took one last look around before streams fell down her eyes. She didn't care anymore; her anger took over and she utilized her semblance to lash out as angrily as possible. In a matter of seconds, she pulled everyone in the room, save Mercury and Hazel, into an illusion. A giant, deformed image of Salem was on display in front of everyone, darkness clouding the room and everyone's attention focused on the enormous and disturbing monster as it flailed its arms around and let out one bloodcurdling screech before the entire room went black.

The illusion knocked Emerald unconscious, while Hazel collected her body and, led by Mercury, the group fled the building and into the forest. Above them on a hilltop stood Adam, a smile forming at what looked like a new opportunity.

Back in the underground, Cinder came to a conclusion. "Alright, I'll see where that pathway leads. If it goes nowhere, I'll take my chances with everyone on the surface." She thought. She levitated back down to the exit below, darkness cloaking every cubic centimeter around her flame's light. Upon touching down, her ankle bothered her again, this time causing her to nearly fall over. To stop the swelling, she sat down, put her ankle in between her hands and began to freeze the injured area.

"Raven…if it wasn't for Vernal interrupting our duel, I would've killed you." She thought to herself. "Next time I see you, I'll rip you, and your damned little band of thieves, to pieces, and I'll make sure you're the last one to die!"

Placing her anger aside, Cinder stood up and continued down into the exit, leaning against the wall as she limped her way through. Just as she expected, a stream was running through passage way towards the left, and the wall on her side of the stream had a pattern of dormant lights leading along the path of the flowing current. Cinder examined these lights, finding their crystalized appearance intriguing.

"Guess this place hasn't been used in ages." She whispered to herself. The crystal lights reminded Cinder of her subordinate, Emerald, followed the other, Mercury. "…hmph, I'm sure they're fine." That's all the thought she put into them. Cinder's main priority was getting out of the cave; her subordinates' safety, like in every case, came in second.

"Damn, how far does this-" SQUEAK! Cinder's eyes lit up, along with the flame in her hand, as her good foot slid towards the wall on the slick concrete. She tried to catch herself on her other foot, only to be reminded of its injury by placing all force on it and focusing on only that. At the instant of the pain, Cinder lost balance entirely; her body made a complete rotation, her eyes catching the moss that had grown on the stone floor for a split second, before falling side first into the stream.

Panic surged throughout her body; the pain in her foot, coupled with the fact she still couldn't see anything, and the dreaded anticipation of hitting any hard rocks that stood in her way. Just as more worry came her way, she could hear the sound of the water current picking up to add onto her concern. As she approached the dreadful noise, she felt the water picking up and her body fell at a slight angle.

"Damn. At this speed, any object I hit will flatten me. Gotta get out of this stream!" She thought. With one flap of her arms, she pushed her body as far out of the water as she could. At her maximum height she extended her grimm arm and found the ceiling, her sharp nails piercing the stone above her and bringing her body to a halt, the current beating hard on her. She pulled herself to the ceiling and activated the orb of wind to levitate through the cave.

"Whatever powered these lights had to have produced enough heat to attract moss all over the floor and walls. I guess when the lights died out, the moss just stayed where it grew." She thought.

Within minutes, she reached the end, and became puzzled by what she had found. The stream seemed to turn and go underneath the path way, leading to who knows where. She landed on the stone pathway, careful not to put weight on her bad ankle or step on any more moss. The exit, however, wasn't so clear to see. In fact, it looked nonexistent.

"What…where's the door? Isn't this a way out?!" She asked herself. "Oh, please tell me I don't have to go back up." Cinder started to feel around the wall, hoping it was just hidden like in the movies. After a few minutes of frustrating searching, she felt what she hoped was a type of knob-mechanism, covered in more moss. Using her semblance, she crafted a small blade out of glass and began cutting away the slippery plant, and soon found her suspicions to be factual. It was an old two-bar valve, mostly rusty but still usable.

With all her strength, Cinder grabbed both bars and turned it counterclockwise. The more she turned, the more loose the knob became, until the entire door made a loud clanking sound, and it opened up. Fresh air flew through the cracks between the door and its frame as Cinder pulled the door open to its full ninety-degree-turn. After an entire night of violence and humiliation, all her stress went away by just the sight of this opened door.

She stepped outside to see what awaited her. It was still night, the broken moon shining light onto the young woman and the stream that led out of the stone wall into the river far below. There wasn't any staircase or even a rope to escape with, just the platform right in front of the door.

"Whoever designed this path didn't just have the ability to fly," Cinder thought to herself. "They didn't want to chance their tracks being found…pretty smart." She peered out one last time at the city. "No time to lose." However, just as she activated her aura again, she felt a sudden urge of pain throughout he whole body. She was forced down to her knees. "Dammit. I'm almost out of Aura, and I've yet to use the maiden powers this long."

Cinder began reflecting on this entire ordeal. "I ran in here expecting a sneak attack on Vernal to work. I didn't come prepared…Oh, why am I such an idiot?!" She got back on her feet once more. "Maybe I can call Salem, get her to come get-" She paused as another panic took center stage in her mind. She checked her dress, now realizing how ruined it was, only to find out she lost her scroll. She continued checking every pocket only to find nothing in all of them. She then remembered the fall into the stream. "It must've fallen out at that moment…"

Thunder clapped through the sky and anxiety filled her in effect. With all her willpower, she forced herself through the pain and levitated one last time to reach higher ground. Once she was high enough to a bridge, her aura gave out and she extended her arms to grab the edge. She was successful and pulled herself over it. Now the rain began to pour, and the light drizzle became heavier with each passing second.

"No way to get back." Cinder thought to herself. "No relic, no Spring Maiden power, only a devastating defeat…" her fist clenched, teeth grit, and a flame spawned from her right eye. "…again…here again…

"Why…why am I never allowed to succeed? Why do the guilty get away while I'm left in the dirt?! What the hell is my destiny then?"

No one was around, all were most likely indoors. She sat up and began to cry, the rain meshing with her tears. Between wanting revenge and simply disappearing, the young woman could no longer tell what route to take.


	2. Chapter 2, Fegefeuer

Chapter 2: Fegefeuer

 **So I got some good reception from the first chapter and I'm grateful to everyone who gave me criticism, positive and negative.**

 **Also, I watched some more of the "World of Remnant" videos (even though I wanted to shove toothpicks into my toenails instead the entire time) so hopefully my next few attempts at exploring Mistral will be to everyone's liking.**

 **Despite what many people said after volume 5 ended, I honestly want Cinder back. Granted I'm a sucker for well written villains, and I feel Cinder, if done properly (*hands in praying position*), could fit into the category of "Characters who walk the thin line between good and bad", along with Darth Vader, Venom, and Zuko (Just noticed they all wear black). But, yeah, I really didn't like volume 5, Hazel and Cinder being the biggest sins of the whole thing.**

 **So enough stalling and ranting, let's get to what everyone's come here to see. By all means, don't hold back.**

Close to the waters and heading northwest, the small hover ship flew faster than a bullet but wouldn't be heard from anyone a mile away. The engines were state of the art, only bought recently from an Atlas arms dealer who's good at keeping secrets and covering tracks.

Watts pulled out his scroll and dialed up Salem. The white-haired and black and red-eyed goddess sat at her seat at the war room table. Though she had no image, the crystal ball in front of her displayed a red glow and transmitted Watts's voice loud and clear.

"Are you on your way, Watts?" Salem asked.

"Yes, m'lady. Hazel, Mercury, and Emerald are accompanying me, along with…another." Watts replied.

"Another?"

Watts put his scroll on speaker. "Go ahead." He told Adam.

"Good day, m'lady." Adam said, sounding optimistic.

"Adam Taurus…what are you doing on my ship?"

"I was allowed a ride in order to meet and serve under you, m'lady."

"Do not address me as 'm'lady'. In fact, I don't consider you a subordinate at all. You're just as much a failure as Cinder, if not more; you were in charge of your own chapter in Vale and now you're on your own. Right now I've no interest in even being in the same room as you. Give me one reason why I shouldn't order Hazel to throw you out into the waters."

Hazel, sitting in the passenger seat, looked back at Adam, sitting diagonally behind him. Adam, however, didn't even blink.

"For one thing, Cinder's failed you twice, while I completed my job of helping you destroy Beacon, despite the number of casualties. Judging by the score, this means I have less losses than Cinder does.

"Also, I already have my own self-taught form of martial art, so if you were to…say…teach me everything you taught Cinder, then by adding onto my own experience, that technically means I have more potential to be a better warrior than she ever was."

"Except for one thing: Cinder was a maiden, and I'm no biologist, but I'm quite certain you could never gain that type of power."

"That's true, but she could." Adam looked over to Emerald, who's eyes opened in shock at the proposal. Mercury showed his teeth at Adam after hearing that. "Besides, you're more interested in those relics, right? I'm sure we could work something out." Adam's arrogant smile rivaled no other. He truly _didn't_ have anything to lose.

His cockiness and ability to counterargument intrigued Salem. With the White Fang basically out of commission, and team RWBY utterly humiliating both of them, Salem couldn't find a reason to not allow him a chance.

"I'll set up something for you here. Consider it…a tryout, your _only_ tryout." Salem insisted, but Adam didn't even flinch. His smile remained the same.

"You won't regret this." Adam finished.

Watts pulled the phone back to himself. "We're about to reach the shores of Vale, m'lady. We'll call you once we return to the castle."

With questions answered, the elephant in the room pulled his seat back, laid down with his forearms beneath his head, and said, "Wake me when we get there."

Emerald and Mercury were at their limits already, and they hadn't even returned to the castle.

* * *

As the rain poured down onto her back, the raven-haired woman's body evaporated each individual drop with her semblance burning all of them away. True, Cinder felt angry, agitated, depressed, spiteful, and the like. However, one emotion she felt above all the rest, one that hadn't taken center stage in her mind in literally years, was crushing defeat. She had all the strength she could ask for, but just knowing no one was coming to help left her feeling weak.

Cinder continued walking the streets until she stumbled upon a diner. She checked her pockets again, and, just her luck, her wallet must have disappeared in the stream with her scroll. She continued walking for about a block-and-a-half until a young couple were heading her way. Accompanied by another panic, she realized her eyepatch and left sleeve were destroyed in the previous fight, exposing her facial scar and grimm arm, and jumped into the gutter directly next to her.

Once the couple passed, Cinder leaned against the wall. While hanging her head down, she noticed the rips and stains all over her dress and panty hose. Even her high heels were soaked in mud. The ankle sprain barely meant anything to her now. Only now did Cinder just want to curl into a ball and hope some freak accident would end her suffering.

Cinder looked up at the sky, wondering if a smite by lightning would be the answer, but noticed someone had left their laundry line with clothes on it, most notably a sweatshirt and a pair of jean shorts. She then thought of Ruby, how she always wore a red cloak and no one would bat an eye.

Still determined to keep going, Cinder levitated to the clothes line, oddly no longer feeling pain, and grabbed the hanging clothes.

"Not really my style, but it'll do." She remarked, wearing a neutral expression.

She dawned the sweatshirt and cut her dress to put on the jean shorts. Her shoes, however, stood out too much with her new outfit, and simply stuffed them into the sweatshirt pocket. Even Ruby would say Cinder stood out too much.

She noted her feet and how weird they looked to be wearing only panty hose.

"Maybe no one will notice. Even if I step on a nail, my aura should protect me." She proposed.

Cinder went back to the diner just to order a water, still wearing the hood. Upon entering, sitting on a stool, and asking the waitress for the drink, Cinder noticed a TV screen hanging above the order window. On it displayed her entire team.

* * *

"According to the Mistral police," the newscaster, Harriot Ermes, began, "the anarchist leader, Cinder Fall, led the assault on Haven academy tonight when her team of anarchists and a faction of the White Fang attempted to decimate the entire school. Not even a year back, this was the same woman who gave a speech at Beacon Academy's Vytal Festival, shortly after the popular student huntress, Pyrrha Nikos, killed another student during the festival's tournament."

Everyone was watching the news on the flat screen back at the house in Mistral, just above the dining room table. Nora was drowning her soup in salt, Ren eating shrimp with chopsticks, all of team RWBY eating the same tilapia dish (Blake was on her third plate), Sun was having a banana split sundae, Jaune and Oscar, the youngest of the group who had the soul of Ozpin in his body alongside his own, both had hamburgers, and Qrow was out with the police, wishing he was back at the house with everyone, especially his beloved flask of whiskey.

Ermes continued the broadcast, showing a shot of the destroyed entrance at the school. "Their plan, according to huntsmen Qrow Branwen, was to set charges around the school and detonate them at midnight. When asked why he and the former Beacon students were here, Mr. Branwen told officials that he received word from the school's headmaster, Sir Leo Lionheart. Mr. Lionheart, however, was found dead in his office just minutes after the battle had ended, apparently stabbed multiple times in the chest, neck, and head, and even strangled to death. Forensics are currently trying to figure out what the assailant had used to crush Lionheart's throat, the case being that no type of rope or cord has been found in the room that matches the size used in the assault. The only clue to the assailant's whereabouts is the broken window in Lionheart's office, seeming to be an exit whole, implying the killer must've jumped out, but police have found neither a body nor footprints on the ground below."

"Man, we got lucky with your cover story, Oz." Oscar thought to himself, Ozpin hearing him clearly.

"Whatever the cost, the secrets of the maidens and relics must _never_ be released to the public." Ozpin replied to him. "The four nations are already at a low Defcon status; they don't need to invade one another for the search of power."

Meanwhile, Ruby looked across the table, Jaune, Nora, and Ren taking her line of sight. While Nora and Ren were feeding each other food, Jaune simply sat with an empty plate in front of him and stared at the flatscreen. What Jaune said before still bothered her. Jaune was never one to show hostility, especially to a dead person. True, Pyrrha was more than a teammate and friend to Jaune, but to form and nurture a grudge was the last thing Ruby would expect from him.

"In addition to the assault, security cameras placed all around the building were switched off for the majority of the night. Though police are investigating why Mr. Lionheart would deactivate the school's surveillance system, they're more interested in this clip, taken just outside the academy foyer by a faunus, one of many from the large group that showed up tonight from Menagerie."

The clip played, the quality obviously being from a scroll, showing Mercury and Hazel running towards the right side of the building.

"According to investigators, these are likely Cinder Fall's subordinates. Cinder Fall herself, however, was not in this clip. Police are currently searching the area for all four anarchists but none have found any evidence of a fourth person escaping the premises. At the moment, a manhunt is currently underway." Right after an image of police hover ships combing the surrounding area, a picture of Cinder, taken from when she attended Beacon as a spy, took over the screen. "She has also been described as wearing a red dress with high heels by one of the former Beacon students, Jaune Arc. If any of our viewers sees this woman, please do not engage, but rather contact local authorities."

Oscar caught Jaune staring at him, to which the paladin looked away.

"Did we…did we really need to lie?" Jaune asked.

Without warning, Ozpin took over Oscar's body. "Yes, Mr. Arc. I understand that what we're doing isn't parallel to that of heroes in fairy tales. However, we can't risk the public knowing about the vault. Just playing dumb and letting the police chase a ghost is our best option at the moment."

Once Ozpin clocked out and Oscar got his body back, Oscar angrily thought to Ozpin, "Gah-dammit, can you at least warn me next time you do that?"

* * *

Upon hearing the "manhunt" comment, Cinder's heart sank. Trying to remain calm, Cinder took a look around herself. "Okay, I'm basically on a different side of the city, so I've bought _some_ time." She thought. "With my ankle messed up and police ships everywhere, it's gonna be hard for me to escape through the air or down major roads. How am I gonna do this?" Her constant thinking brought her to a question that instantly made her uncomfortable. "…Where am I gonna go?"

Cinder paused, trying to answer that question but to no avail. "This is twice now I've failed Salem, and worse than that, the relic is probably in the hands of that bandit, or worse, Ozpin. I can't even call just to beg for her help."

The terror took her over, her human hand shaking on the countertop with her grimm hand shaking in the sweatshirt pocket. As she panicked, Qrow was walking down the street in the direction of the diner, an umbrella in hand.

"Man, of course I'm the one who has to go to the southern half of the city." Qrow thought to himself. "Least they could've done was send some people with me, maybe convince them to be my designated driver. Still, at least we don't need to worry about Cinder anymore. Raven's never been one to leave loose ends unsecured. Aside from a nice walk in the rain, this is all just a waste of time."

"In other news," the newscaster continued, "the city of Fegefeuer has appeared on many radars as of late. A group of bandits appear to have been massacred outside of the city's limits. The group attempted to steal dust from a dust mine that was directly next to the dust refinery, owned by the Schnee Dust Company, in the high mountains of Mistral."

Cinder, hoping the news broadcast would at least distract her, looked up to the screen and her heart skipped a beat at what she saw.

"What…?" She thought. "Th-That's…"

"Local authorities found the charred corpses of the bandits left in the Dark Wood forest. Half of the dust they stole was recovered while the rest seems to have been destroyed or missing."

Another overhead picture showed burned trees and the cindered remains of the bandits' bodies. Cinder sat their intrigued, not by the news of the massacre but by the name of the location.

"It…it couldn't be…"

"Police forces from surrounding towns and villages have continued their negative criticism of Fegefeuer, detailing their lack of mercy and trust." The newscaster added. "For the past fifteen years, Fegefeuer has remained one of Mistral's most questionable cities, its most famous attribute being its tolerance to any and all wanderers. Despite the constant presence of police, gangs and criminals alike populate the city. Even its own motto…"

The newscaster paused, waiting for the image of a sign posted _above_ a city limit sign to be posted on screen, and read its content. "…

'Come all you weary,

Rest your soul

But NEVER disturb ours'

(the 'NEVER' was written by someone carving the letters into the sign, while the other words were all written in black print) has kept Fegefeuer on watchlists worldwide and will continue as long as its residents refuse to change this city for the better. I'm Harriot Ermes, Remnant News Network."

Cinder sat there, stunned by what she had just saw. The trees from Dark Wood forest, the image of those mountains jaggedly cutting the sky, the precise location of the city.

"Hmph, I swear, first the academy tonight then another incident at Fegefeuer. What happened to the days where the grimm were the bad guys?" The waitress behind the counter said to herself.

"Hey, um…" Cinder began, the waitress's attention focused on her, "…they said that city, Fegefeuer, was in the north of the country, right?"

"Mhmm. That's right darlin'." The waitress replied, not concerned by Cinder looking down at the countertop.

"…This may sound weird, but how old is the city?"

"Well…technically, the location was founded decades ago, apparently run by some kind of 'royal family' or something like that. Maybe just a bunch of rich folks."

Cinder's eye opened wider than ever before in her life.

"But it wasn't called 'Fegefeuer' back then, it was…oh what was it…oh come on, what-"

"-Empyrean." Cinder said loudly under her breath.

Just then, Qrow walked into the diner, walking past Cinder's stool. He noted her presence however, noting her attractive legs in what he assumed were see through leggings. The only thing he didn't notice was her feet without shoes.

"Hmph, kids these days." Qrow said to himself.

He sat a few seats down and called for the waitress, Cinder immediately recognizing his voice. In a panic, she rushed out the door without making a scene. Qrow barely noticed, just seeing someone leave the diner in his peripheral vision.

Now outside, the rain heavier than ever, she turned towards the parking lot between the diner and an apartment complex. Just her luck, she noticed a hog motorcycle parked by the diner's dumpster.

While running over to it, she thought to herself, "Okay, Cinder. You've flown a huge hover ship before. How hard can a motorcycle be?"

Using her grimm arm, she inserted her finger into the ignition, matching the shape of the key. Using her ice power, she froze her finger, broke it off and regrew a new one, put the iced one in the ignition and got the bike going.

Only now did she feel any thanks towards Mercury for showing her how one of these would work. A quick escape indeed.

The engine roared throughout the street as Cinder made her way out to the southern city limits. Her destination was north, which means she'd have to find a way around the City of Mistral in order to get to the mountains.

Cinder couldn't get the image of the Fegefeuer sign out of her head. She remembered the middle and bottom lines due to that intimidating "NEVER", but she recalled the first line for the small spark of hope it gave her.

"Come all you weary." She thought, smiling. She looked one last time at her ankle, the ice completely melted off. "Well, I guess I'm weary."

She finally reached the city limits, her heart pounding from anticipation upon reaching Fegefeuer.

"Wait for me…" She thought, memories of the deceased flooding back to her mind. "I'm coming home."


	3. Chapter 3, Fallen Angel

**Chapter 3. Fallen Angel**

 **Once again, I've gotten a lot of good feedback on this story. Fair warning; while the previous two chapters focused on the three of Ruby, Adam, and Cinder, the story is named after the Cinder, so this chapter is going to just be about her, specifically her non-canonical backstory, and her new encounters. Hope you guys enjoy, keep coming back, and I'll see you next time!**

* * *

Another day had begun in Mistral's city of Empyrean as the sun climbed over the northern mountains. Everyone in the city below had carried on with their daily lives, trading and growing food, kids going to school, and workers mining dust within the mountains. Every patch of grass was purely green and lush, all the trees stood strong and tall, and no one held a grudge against any other. Humans and Faunus lived together in complete harmony, sharing both neighborhoods and the few jail cells alike.

Atop the mountains, looking over the city below and commanding several thousand workers, lived a small village. Towards the village's end and closest to the furthest left mountain peak was a large house, home to a small family. The father was the CEO of the company that ran the dust mines, earning him the nickname of King. Accompanying him was a small village, composed of the city's wealthiest, separating themselves only to prevent envy and greed from poisoning the poorer classes in the city below. Outside, off the cliffside, laid a grave of his late wife, a woman who died at the young age of thirty-three two years prior from illness. Laying on the mantle was her memorial, a picture of a beautiful woman with raven-black hair and blue eyes. In the photograph, she wore a white dress with her belly large and round, her hands laying on top of it, and giving her most heart-warming smile.

Once the sun reached the center of the sky, a black limousine drove up the mountain to meet the businessman. Upon driving through the small village and stopping in the King's driveway, the car was met with another, even larger and more expensive, white stretch-limousine. This forced the black car to park right next to the stone tablet at the entrance that read "Seraphim Estate". Out of the car stepped the driver and he opened the left rear door, an adult man with black hair and wearing a suit and tie. In his hand, he held a silver briefcase. Once opening the right door, the driver undid the seatbelt holding a three-year-old boy with similar black hair and helped him out. The boy ran to the other man and walked into the estate, the driver staying behind.

"Solar, please! We've been at this for weeks." Said a voice behind the door. The voice belonged to a man with white hair, moustache, and suit with a blue shirt. "These mines hold such a large supply of dust and you've only broken the surface, even after three years of mining. If you sign with us, we'll clear it out in only a few years."

"Jacque, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but what you're asking for is impractical. We may make more money by burrowing deeper, but if everything's cleared out, what'll my workers do when it's all over in just a few years? Also, and this is when you crossed the line, I don't like what your contract stated about the faunus." Solar said.

"What about them? I promised equal pay for humans and faunus alike."

"Yeah, and it also said they'd be working more hours than humans _and_ they'd be specifically positioned to work as the front lines into the mines."

"What's wrong with that? The majority of faunus have night vision, not to mention they have a history of working in hard labor. It's practically in their DNA."

That last line solidified Solar's decision. "You know how combustible dust can be. As for the extra hours, it's not fair to them that they end up overworked and exhausted while human workers get more spare time. This deal is over, Jacque. I'm sorry, but that's my final answer."

Standing behind the doorway to the kitchen, a little girl hid behind the frame, intimidated by the albino's angry expression at her father. Without another word, Jacque and Solar shook hands and bid good day to one another.

Anger washed over Jacque's face, but was immediately accompanied with shock when he opened the door and standing on the porch was the man and the boy.

"Nephilim? What're you doing here?" Jacque asked in a panic.

The dark-haired man appeared annoyed. "It's good to see you again, too, Mr. Schnee. I'm here to talk to Mr. Seraphim."

All the distress Jacque had skyrocketed, however, when he noticed the man's briefcase, a good prediction of what was already inside.

Jacque took one last look at Solar, only to notice the little girl hiding behind the doorframe, backing up out of sight upon them making eye contact. Not wanting another scene, Jacque stepped outside without another word, only to be dumbfounded to see the black limousine blocking the path for his stretch hummer to leave.

Not wanting to hear any arguments, Nephilim closed the door, hoping the driver would take care of it, and approached Solar. They were in the living room, a TV against the blinded windows and a staircase leading upstairs on the opposite side. The door hiding the girl stood next to the stairs and led into the kitchen. They shook hands, addressed each other as "my good sir"…then smiled, laughed, and hugged it out. The little boy looked up at the two men, feeling left out, only to notice the girl peeking from the door again. He walked over to her, only to see her running away.

"Oh, lemme go get her." Solar said. He looked at the boy. "You're gonna love my daughter, she's shy but so sweet."

Solar walked off, his voice could be heard further in the house, and then he returned with the little girl. She had the same amber eyes as her father, the raven-black hair as her mother in the photo and wore her own white dress that covered her shoulders and arms. On her feet were pink tennis shoes with white socks. Though she gave off a sense of fear, unable to look at Nephilim nor his son.

Nephilim got down on one knee, Solar doing the same, and spoke to his son. "Don't be shy, Gabriel. Girls don't bite." Solar laughed at that. "Just walk up to her and say your name."

The little boy looked at the girl again, whom was still unable to look back. He approached her anyway and extended his hand, feeling neither anxiety nor anticipation.

"My name's Gabriel Nephilim." He said with a slight smile. "What's yours?"

The girl, with hope in her heart, reached out and grabbed his hand. With a slight smile, she looked into his eyes and answered his question. "Cinder Seraphim."

Ten minutes passed and the two kids were running around outside while the two fathers were speaking with the silver briefcase between them on the kitchen island.

"Thanks for bringing your son. Cinder's been so anti-social lately, and I just don't know how to get her out of her shell." Solar said.

"Well, Gabriel's been the same way." Nephilim remarked. "Lucy's sleeping over at her friend's house tonight and my wife took Michael out to ride his bike, so I thought bringing him along would've been good for him." After a smile and pause, he continued. "So I guess Jacque's been bothersome as usual?"

"Yeah. He wants to buy my company so he can move all his workers into the mountain and bleed it dry of its dust. He kept going on about how 'it's a once in a lifetime opportunity', promising me and Cinder a luxury condo in Atlas. But…" Solar looked out the window, past the two kids and focusing on his wife's grave. "…there are some things that just can't change."

"Hmph, he gave me the same option, disregarding all my workers as well." Nephilim replied, seeing now as the best opportunity to start what he came here for. "I don't want to believe he's _evil_ , per say, just greedy. He doesn't realize how important my family's presence in Vacuo is, just that…we have something he wants. That's why I'm here today, to show that I trust you more than him."

Nephilim opened the briefcase, facing Solar, whose eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Within the case was black foam, safeguarding a vile of Silver dust.

* * *

 **15 years later**

The sun was now beginning to set. The roar of the motorcycle filled the pathway of trees, its tires grinding a straight line into the dirt below, and wind blasting into the driver's face. Her hair lashed out into the wind, messing up its composure.

"Hopefully this city has somewhere I can wash up." Cinder wished.

Aside from her hair, her biggest problem was the fuel gauge on the bike, its needle almost on "E". Not a surprise, really, since she's been riding all day without stopping even to rob a gas station for food. Though most would feel concerned by this, it was nothing compared to what happened the night before; the embarrassment, injuries, and defeat that plagued her mind nonstop for hours.

As the sun was disappearing over the horizon, the motocycle made loud "bangs" as the gas tank used up its remaining fumes. Cinder's hopes were at about the same level until she noticed a gas station's lights illuminating the surrounding area. With high hopes, she rode the bike towards the station, unaware of the beastly presence closing in on her.

Once parking the bike by a gas pump, she recalled losing her wallet and wondered how she'd fuel it. Looking inside the station, she noticed the clerk looking bored at his scroll.

"Hmph, I bet I could…convince him to help me." Cinder said to herself. Upon approaching the doors, her hood still covering her head, she noticed several surveillance cameras around the building's corners. Once crafting enough glass knives with her semblance, Cinder threw each one at a camera and proceeded towards the store. Just as she was about to smash through the glass doors, Cinder heard a foreboding growling sound coming from the surrounding forest.

Piercing orange eyes glowed from between two trees, staring Cinder down as she remained frozen. The clerk noticed her standing outside and moved from the counter to see what was happening. Cinder recalled all her training Salem had given her and she shrugged off the worry, until the beast revealed itself from the woods. The clerk opened the door, only for his eyes to widen at the scale of the monster, its bear-like claws waving in the air as its roar echoed and shook the ground below.

As the clerk stood paralyzed in fear, Cinder jumped into the air and forged a glass sword. The beast swung both its paws at the woman, to which she swung her sword and cut through its claws. Upon landing, she jumped in the air again and slashed its face in half. The monster's body fell backwards as she descended. Just as she felt incredibly confident, she landed on her left knee and right foot, only to remember her sprain once the intense pain hit her.

She wailed out in pain, grabbing her ankle and snapping the clerk out of his fearful paralysis. However, the grimm in the surrounding area sensed these emotions of fear and agony and followed the trail.

"Hey, are you okay?" The clerk asked Cinder, putting one hand on her shoulder.

Just as she was about to sever the same hand simply for grabbing her, they both heard even more growling coming from every direction. Burning red and orange eyes melted within bleach white skulls surrounded the entire station, the clerk's anxiety only rising while Cinder became more irritated by the situation.

Fighting the pain, she got up on both feet. Without facing the clerk, she asked him a question. "Hey, if I clear this place out of grimm, you'll give me a full tank of gas for free?"

"Wha- yeah, sure, whatever! Just get rid of these things!" He answered in a panic.

The first to charge at them were grimm that resembled wolves. Two sprinted towards Cinder from the woods, to which she sprinted towards them and slid in between them and used one swing of her sword to cut off a front leg from both. Charging towards her next was a boar grimm, its tusks huge and blunt, as she was still sliding on the ground. She placed her grimm arm into the ground and poll vaulted over it, a single swing slicing its body in half. She landed directly next to a griffin grimm. Its huge beak pecked the ground around her, attempting to swallow her whole. Once the timing was right, Cinder rolled underneath it only to be met with its claws trying to smash her into the ground. She couldn't dodge it and took the hit, feeling the pain but remaining conscious and pinned to the ground by its front legs. Once she noticed it readying its beak for another jab, Cinder broke off her grimm arm and grew it back immediately and formed it into a spear, impaling the grimm's head as it leaned in for her. Once its body dissolved into smoke, she got back up.

She was starting to feel exhausted, all the pain and starvation catching up to her. She wasn't nearly as prepared as she expected. Suddenly she heard the screaming of a little girl, only to look back at the gas station to hear the clerk screaming at the sight of the surrounding grimm. After a brief expression of disappointment, Cinder activated her maiden ability and glided towards the station. Just as a wolf grimm was about the devour the clerk's head, the clerk's back against the wall and away from the building entrance, Cinder decapitated the beast. Before the remaining grimm could react, Cinder had blown the rest of them away with a fire blast.

Just as the coast appeared clear, one last grimm appeared from the forest. Between them and this grimm stood the gas pumps. Cinder wasn't about to let her goal literally go up in flames. To save time, she sprinted towards the pumps, jumped over them and slammed a glass spear directly into the creature's skull. Its body skidded against the pavement, stopping only a centimeter from the pump before dissolving into smoke.

Cinder got onto her feet, breathing heavily and trying to keep composure. She wasn't sweating, but rather developing heat exhaustion from riding the bike all day and fighting monsters well after the sun went down. The clerk walked up to her, handing her a bottle of water.

"Just thought it'd make a good bonus with the gas." He told her, Cinder shocked by the gesture. She took the bottle and drank from it, the water cooling her down and replenishing her energy. "C'mon, I'll get you some food for your trip too."

"…why?" Cinder asked, not annoyed but confused.

"Why not? You saved my skin back there. I'm no huntsman so this is about as close to returning the favor as I can."

Feeling thankful, another emotion she hasn't felt in years, Cinder followed the clerk into the store. He gave her the choice to pick out whatever snacks she wanted, half of which was candy and the other half was a mix of trail-mix and fruit, all of which would be paid with his paycheck. Once the shopping was over, Cinder only had one last question for the clerk.

"So…" She began. "Do you know how much farther Fegefeuer is?"

The clerk's eyes widened and he focused entirely on her. "…w-why would you want to know where _that_ place is?"

She sighed. "Because…that's where I'm going. That's also the last question I'm answering." She said the last statement quite brutally.

Believing he had enough pieces to put together, the clerk pulled out his scroll and showed a map of the area.

"You're only about forty miles south of the city. The sun's gone down though, so I recommend you find somewhere to sleep right now and go in the morning."

"Alright. Anywhere in particular?"

"Yeah, there's a motel down the street…but, why are you going to Fegefeuer of all places? Criminals and killers from all over come to this city."

"I guess you didn't hear me when I said I'm not answering anymore questions. Now come on, I need the tank refilled."

Pushing aside the rude attitude, the clerk filled up Cinder's tank and bid her farewell, to which she simply sped off on the bike without looking back. A few moments later, she found the motel. The place looked very run down, the doors without any security system and the parking lot nearly vacant save for a few cars. Once she parked the bike in a spot, Cinder walked up to one of the doors and tried molding the key shape with her grimm hand. At this point, she was so exhausted, she didn't even care if police had shown up. She opened the door and the place looked just as gross and old as she expected.

As she laid on the bed, she couldn't get this night out of her head. She hadn't realized she saved the clerk until he handed her that water.

"Hmph, like I care." She told herself. "I just needed him to fill my tank; nothing else."

Then another thought plagued her mind: Salem. Did she have any concern for Cinder? Possibly mourn her presumed loss? Even light a candle in her honor? Probably not. If Cinder truly knew Salem, then she'd expect Salem to not even blink at the news of her death.

Cinder gripped the sheets, her hand shaking with more force put into her fingers. Going from sleeping in a large castle with two loyal servants to a filthy motel room all alone. Was Fegefeuer worth it? Was this place, obviously no longer the home she knew, worth all this trouble and humiliation?

"Too late to turn back, now." She told herself, drifting off into sleep and waiting either to be woken up by the sun or a police officer arresting her.

Eight hours had passed, the sky turning from a dim black to a dark blue in the east. Cinder woke up, not even recalling having any dream. All she remembered was closing her eyes and opening them a few minutes ago. Once noticing the sky, she took it as her cue to leave. She got down to the bike and rode it to the motel's curb, right next to the motel's front office where the manager was asleep at his desk next to the key rack.

"Tch. Five-star service, right here." Cinder joked.

She rode her bike up north, and in just under two hours, she reached the sign she saw in the news broadcast and stopped the bike. The "NEVER" just as intimidating as she recalled, but it didn't turn her away. Salem's castle was more terrifying than this sign, and all it meant to say was to leave the city's inhabitants alone and there wouldn't be trouble.

"'Criminals and killers from all over come to this city'." She recalled the clerk say.

"Well, guess I'll fit right in."

Driving past the sign and going uphill, Cinder stopped the bike at the hilltop.

Another sign, clearly made by a random person, stood in the ground and read,

"Fegefeuer

You will never find a more

wretched hive of scum and villainy"

Looking past the sign, she took in the view of the entire city and her body froze in surprise.

At the bottom of the mountain was an enormous factory with the Schnee's crest on the side. Its smoke stacks let out disgusting black puffs that joined the others in the atmosphere, covering the city in its shadow. She looked at the mountain top, expecting to find a small village. Her heart only sank at the sight of the mountain snow risen and covering where those houses stood. The only building that seemed untouched by the snow was a church, but it stood at the cliffside, further away from the avalanched snow. It must've been built after the snow buried everything.

None of this should've come as a shock to her, despite it being a decade-and-a-half since she's last been here. Had her home truly fallen from grace, or was there still a spark of hope? Whichever was true, Cinder knew she'd receive no answer standing at the hilltop. She revved up the bike and sped towards city.

The fallen angel of Mistral.

* * *

 **Well, this took longer than expected. Sorry about that, guys. I spent the last few days doing a lifeguard class because my last certification expired last year, so now I'm fully recertified and ready to work for the summer!**

 **One thing I want you all to note is that the title doesn't just have to refer to Cinder, but also to the city as well; how something so beautiful and reassuring became horrid and foreboding.**

 **Don't know when I'll post the next chapter because I'm going to be busy all this month with two jobs and a trip I have planned with some friends the weekend of the 16** **th** **.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time. Take Care!**


	4. Chapter 4, Of Mice and Monsters

**Chapter 4. Of Mice and Monsters**

 **Views are climbing like the temperature (I'm typing this in June and I live in Texas). I don't know how many chapters this overall story is going to be; I'm kind of just writing as things come to me, despite that I already have a game plan with set plot points and characters driving said plot points together.**

 **For this new character's voice, try to imagine Lucy being played by Erica Mendez.**

"There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery."

-Dante Alighieri

* * *

Curious by the sight of the church, Cinder revved up the bike and rode downhill, dirt and bugs crunching beneath the tires and the engine.

"I can check out the rest of the town later." She told herself.

As she rode along the path, five minutes had passed until she passed a young couple walking in the opposite direction. Just as she passed them, Cinder made eye contact with the girl for a split second before speeding off downhill.

Cinder didn't even think anything of it, not recognizing her long black hair nor her green eyes. The girl, however, turned around as the biker rode off, vaguely recognizing Cinder's amber eye. She just stood there as her boyfriend turned around in confusion, the flower pin in her hair waving with the breeze.

"Uh…Mel. You okay?" He asked.

"N-no…no, I'm fine, Michael. Just…thought that person looked familiar is all." She answered.

Cinder's bike roared through the forest, her eyes not even blinking as each bug hit her face. After everything that's happened in the past two days, a fly-facial was nothing to her. On her way through, however, she passed a sight of burnt trees and a crater between them. She stopped the bike for a minute to satisfy her curiosity.

"Guess this was where the bandits from the broadcast got killed." She thought, noticing the black ground and charred trees. The clerk's mention of the city being full of crooks and killers came back to her. "I fear no one…but I'm better off keeping a low profile."

Finally, she reached the side of the mountain that made a path leading up to the church…composed of stairs. If memory served correctly, there should've been a zigzag road for vehicles leading to the village above. Cinder drove around and found the road…buried under mores snow. Once she returned to the stairs case, she put her grimm finger in the ignition and turned the bike off. After walking it to the side of the stairs, out of anyone's sight, she looked up at the massive staircase that must have reached eight-hundred feet in altitude.

She looked down at her ankle. "Yeah…screw that." She said, activating her levitation and soaring up the staircase. Each passing second, memories of this place flooded back into her mind; a village full of people taller than she was, the sun rising in orange beauty every morning, the grass and dirt pathways where children would play everyday after school. However, she finally reached the top of the stairs to see all those happy memories buried under a thin sheet to a thick blanket of snow. Despite her seeing all of this from the hilltop before, she still couldn't shake her feeling of shock.

The church was the only building on the mountainside yet looked as if it were built yesterday. Wouldn't be a bad assumption since Cinder couldn't remember anything about this church. Still curious, she walked in, the front doors oddly unlocked, and the oddness didn't stop there. Cinder walked in to see the pews were dusted and clean, all the stain-glass windows were replaced with new ones, and the rug leading towards the alter was stained and had holes in it but had vacuum lines. Looking up on the right side wall, she saw what appeared to be a list of people written on a white tapestry with an insignia on the center. The emblem was just three circles next to each other and all were surrounded by an even bigger circle. She didn't think anything of it at first, until she saw one name that rang a bell hard in her mind, and all her attention focused on the tapestry.

"Dante A. Lighieri – Age: 56" it read, and a man with a big smile and short brown hair appeared in her memory; one of former neighbors. Directly above his name was "Beatrice Lighieri – Age: 55" and a woman with long gold hair and a heart-warming smile came to her mind as well. Others like "Virgil Der Dichter – Age: 51" and "Barron Oniface – Age: 79" seemed to just come back to her naturally as well, as if she were speaking to all these people yesterday. All the names were arranged in alphabetical order and her heart sank once she found those with "S" in the last name.

In plain print, she found her father's name "Solar Seraphim – Age: 31" and directly above that read "Cinder Seraphim – Age: 5". At both bottom corners of the tapestry were two white candles, both clearly hadn't been lit in years. It then came to her mind that, in this specific religion in Mistral, lighting a white candle near a grave was to pay respect to the deceased and to claim they're in a better place.

Believing she'd seen enough, Cinder walked outside again, closing the door behind her, and looked at the piled-high snow. One memory in particular came to her mind, one she hadn't thought about since her defeat at the hands of Raven: the night the snow covered everything. All she could remember was the image of a woman with long black hair and burning red eyes pushing Cinder off the mountainside, the little girl's arms hanging in front of her as she fell into the city of Empyrean.

The rest of that night was a blur; she couldn't even recall how she survived the fall. Regardless, both her human and grimm hands were made into fists and her eye forged a flame at the mere thought of that night.

"Raven…I don't know how, but I'm gonna get out of here, and when I do…" She couldn't finish her threat, not when she couldn't answer _how_ she'd get out of there. What Cinder hated more than anything in the world, defeat and humiliation tied for second, was just being trapped. In this moment, she felt like the biggest idiot on Remnant, alone and with no plan whatsoever.

At the base of the mountain, grimm lurked seeking new prey throughout the Dark Wood forest. Along the forest's path, near the crater and bandits' grave, stood a young woman wearing a white button-down jacket, jean shorts, brown boots, bleach white hair, and wearing scuba goggles over her eyes. Her hair was long, the front laying down on her face due to its length equaling that of the back. At her left side, a sabre sword rested in its sheath.

She stood at the rim of the ash-colored pit when she noticed grimm walking calmly in one direction. Elephant grimm walked single-file and wolf and bear grimm began quickening their pace, all heading towards the staircase to the former village. None of the demons even noticed the woman's presence, her reaction to these monsters being the equivalent of someone noticing ants on the sidewalk. Suddenly, even more grimm charged in that direction, over two-dozen now racing up the staircase to devour their target. Even bird grimm, from seagull to school bus-sized, were in flocks just to get to Cinder. Simply "just because", the albino woman looked up and saw the church at the top, guessing "some wanderer having a bad day" was up there.

Just as the raven-haired woman was about to begin crying, she felt a light vibration on the ground and heard commotion coming from the stairs. Approaching the steps, Cinder's mind regained focus from the sight of stampeding demons rushing up the steps.

"Never a dull moment." She told herself. In both hands, she forged dual glass blades. Nothing mattered anymore; going out in a blaze of glory was a death she found most comfortable.

Upon activating her levitation, Cinder created a ring of fire around herself and incinerated the birds soaring at her. Those that dodged swung around, only to be incinerated by another ring that rotated vertically around her. The wolves were next, finally reaching the top of the stairs and pouncing at Cinder. With all ill intent, she charged at the wolves, slashing the first few in complete half. Before they could tell what happened, she was in between six of them and rotated her body one-hundred-eighty degrees on her left foot, decapitating all of them. As the bodies evaporated into smoke, one wolf hid within it and attacked Cinder from behind, making its claw mark on her back and her yelling out in pain. Its victory howl last only a few seconds before Cinder sliced its skull in half. More birds, however, were on their way, along with the bears and more wolves.

People were gathering by the west side of the city, seeing fireballs and hearing blade chimes from the ground, while others noticed but continued with their day.

"Damn, Lucy just can't take a day off, can she?" A random civilian asked another.

A bear lunged toward Cinder, but she hopped over it and hacked off a wing of an incoming griffin. As she was about to land, another bear approached the top step and lunged at her as well. Instead of levitating, she put the blades together and formed a bow with them, forging three arrows in the string and firing all at once at the bear's head. On her way down, she saw the head of a wolf and planned to land on it, only to have the birds fly around and ram into her, their talons and beaks digging into her arms. Upon landing square on the wolf, the beast unhappy by its new visitor, Cinder levitated further back into the mountain to catch her breath. When she looked towards the stairs, more grimm were appearing as if what already came was fodder from a larger army. The first to charge was an even larger bear grimm, but just as Cinder readied her stance and charged at him as well, something struck the bear's head, cementing its skull into the ground. Cinder's eyes widened at the surprise, even more dumbfounded to see it was the girl with white hair on the monster's head, her saber piercing the skull and the ground beneath it. As its body began to dissolve, the girl looked up at Cinder, an innocent smile and bright eyes on her face, Cinder being the opposite with shock and annoyance covering hers.

"Who the hell are you?!" She asked the girl.

"I'm no one important." She answered, more grimm charging at her from behind. "Just someone who likes your style."

"Style of what?"

Suddenly, four wolves, another bear, and a dozen birds came up from behind the girl. Just as Cinder readied herself again, the girl swung her saber once, and out of it came an odd beam of light that slashed through each demon. All their carcasses landed and exploded into smoke on impact, Cinder amazed by the amount of carnage in the small-time span.

"Hm…fun!" She finally answered, the innocent smile turning into one of sadism.

More grimm appeared from the stairs. "Hey, you like games?" She asked Cinder, who stood their puzzled yet intrigued. "Whoever has the most kills by the end wins!"

Liking the confidence level this girl had, Cinder made a smug look. "Well…may be best fighter win."

As the grimm stampede closed in, the two girls hopped in the air and made horsecuts into the two closest monsters. Slicing their heads apart, they made horizontal cuts into the next two wolves who ran around to counter. Now a griffin grimm ran between the bears' dissolving corpses and get the drop on both of them, only for both to counter and strike its front legs and cut into its torso as it dropped and skidded.

The entire pathway to the stairs was now covered in grimm, corpses and living. The girl's boredom had now reached the height of the mountain, her face showing uninterest. A wolf leaped into the air to attack the duo, her specifically, but she didn't move. As Cinder crouched in a leaping position, the girl abruptly said, "wait!" and raised her left hand in a "stop" mannerism. The distance between the girl and the wolf was shortening to mere meters. The girl gave one menacing smile and a bright beam of light erupted from her hand and blanketed the monster. Cinder put her hands up to block from the light, but when she tried opening them she saw the monster's body on the ground, flailing its limbs around as it burned alive. The girl still had the same sadistic grin as she aimed her palm at the last of the oncoming monsters. As a griffin was nosediving for her, she activated the light one last time, bent her fingers and thumb into a cone shape, and in seconds her light ignited half the mountainside.

As more of their bodies burned to ash, she noticed her light hitting the side of the church, its stone wall glowing orange. Her smile immediately turned to a small frown and she turned off her light. Cinder could only look at the carnage brought by the girl's power as she ran for the lone building, examining the wall. Half the grimm, however, were still alive and began running towards her.

"Okay, looks like it'll be okay." She told herself, the grimm closing in on her. "Oh jeez, don't you guys ever learn?"

As she readied her saber, arrows pierced three of the grimm skulls that were just feet from her. The fourth and final grimm made its leap at the girl, only to be interrupted as Cinder impaled its head with a glass spear and it fell at the girl's feet. The two women looked at each other, first with blank expressions that grew smiles that said "Impressive".

Cinder jumped down from the dissolving beast's, looking exhausted and being careful to stay off her right foot.

The albino looked at her, looking impressed and relieved. "Sorry, I'm just not one to stand back and let everyone else have fun."

Cinder snickered. "Well, glad to know I'm not alone."

"You okay to walk down those steps?" She asked Cinder, who looked confused from the question. "You look like you got a bad ankle. I mean, when you jumped and killed that grimm, like I did, you tried staying off it. Same with just now; you didn't want to put stand on it."

Cinder was impressed by the girl's great attention to detail. That coupled along with her incredible fighting capabilities intrigued her even more. Possibly useful in the future, like Emerald and Mercury? As the girl placed her saber back in her sheath, she moved the bothersome hairs that relaxed on her nose and offered Cinder a hand.

"I'm guessing you're new here. Lemme help you down the stairs and we can talk more on the way to my place." She offered.

Slightly puzzled by the sudden generosity of the girl, Cinder put her right arm around the back of the girl's neck and put all her weight on her. If she tried anything, Cinder figured she could handle it. The two made it to the first step and continued downward. Further down the stairs, she saw the evaporating corpses of elephant grimm. Lucy gave another innocent look.

"Oops, hope you don't mind but I kinda took out the big ones by myself." She said, not even blinking.

Whereas others may have been put off by this nonchalant behavior, Cinder found it amusing. To her, this strange girl just oozed intrigue as well as suspicion. Most huntsmen seem fatigued after fighting so many grimm, even fewer seem to be ecstatic to fight said monsters and all the while smiling. This girl didn't just smile but wore one that even gave Cinder chills; from smiling innocently after smashing a grimm's head into the ground to smiling like a devil when more of the demons came to oppose her.

"So…exactly what were you doing up here?" She asked, Cinder's smile dying and trying to find the right words.

"Uh…well…" She began.

"You're not from around here, are you? You a drifter or something?"

"…something like that." Cinder thought of Salem, the room in her castle that she allowed Cinder to live in. "Actually, why were you up there? How'd you get past all those grimm when you got to me?"

"Hmmmm…I guess 'cause I was bored. Just wanderin' around the forest when I saw the grimm rushing towards the mountain and thought 'this oughtta be fun'."

Eventually, the two got to the bottom, Cinder's bike still parked in the blind spot. Making note of the vehicle's passenger seat, the girl offered to be the driver and let Cinder sit behind her. Though puzzled by the fact that this stranger knew how to drive a motorcycle, Cinder surrendered and sat on the passenger seat, hugging the girl's waist.

Cinder then realized she didn't even know the girl's name. Would trading names put her in danger?

"Oh, by the way, I'm Lucy! What's your name?" The girl asked, confident and friendly.

Cinder paused, trying to find the correct answer, if there even was one. The girl was observant, so could she tell a fake name the second she heard it?

Once her pause took too much time, Lucy continued. "Look, if you're on the run, don't worry. Half of my friends are criminals and the other half have already _been_ to prison." A spark of hope gleamed in Lucy's eyes, and it spread to Cinder's heart. "Dude, you're safe here, and between you and me, my hands aren't clean either."

Feeling no reason to keep a secret, Cinder came clean. "C-Cinder."

"Hmph, cool name. Matches that fire semblance I saw you use back the-" Lucy paused after realizing something slightly important. "Hey, uh, you got keys?"

An awkward few seconds of silence occurred, Cinder not sure how to answer that question. Hoping for the best, she told Lucy to move over and, keeping her grimm hand in her sweatshirt sleeve, formed the key and turned it in the ignition. The engine started up, Lucy's expression following suit.

"Whoa! What, do you have _two_ semblances?!" She asked, smiling as usual.

"No." Cinder replied, a touch of smug in her tone. "Just got a couple tricks."

Lucy kicked off the peg and the bike roared down the path.

"Guess she didn't see my grimm hand during the fight." Cinder thought. "That or she saw my gloved hand and assumed I'm wearing a matching pair."

Meanwhile, the two rode past the bandits' grave, and Lucy thought to herself, "Guess it's true what they say, 'criminals always return to the scene of the crime.'"

* * *

 **Well, thank God that's over with. Overall, I'm going to keep doing this series, since I'm already at 9 favorites and that's 9 people who like what I have to offer.**

 **At the time of me writing this, Rwby's writers are getting a lot of criticism for their latest volume of the series, and while I do think it's the weakest so far, I just want to say something really quick. I've noticed that, while they made the choice to do so, Miles and Kerry have A LOT on their plate in terms of writing for RT's shows. As an aspiring writer myself, I know what it feels like to want to make the world a better place with your messages while worrying about how much potential backlash is waiting for you. Yes, this season could've been much better, but at the end of the day, it's not enough to make me quit on the series, despite me insisting I'm not a fan.**

 **Honestly, I think I'm writing this fanfic just because I want this series to do well. I think a good place to start improving, next to developing Ruby and placing Ozpin in a villainous light, would be fleshing out and developing Cinder and Adam. Maybe not at the moment, but I feel Cinder has potential to be the best character in the show if written correctly.**

 **That's all I have to say on the matter, hope you all have a wonderful day, and please keep a level head when criticizing anyone/anything. Thank you and see you next time with Chapter 5.**


	5. Chapter 5, Paper Tigers

**Chapter 5. Paper Tigers**

 **Been feeling pretty stressed lately, especially with the new job, but hey! Payday's this Thursday. The pacing in this one may feel kinda odd, but that's because a lot of stuff I'm setting up for later chapters can occur (yes, that's an excuse; no, it doesn't make the story better). I got the title of this chapter from the song "Paper Tigers" by the band Thrice, so do yourselves a favor and check it out if you're into rock. They've also made several albums that touch on different genres of music, so if you don't like this particular song or its album, don't worry. I recommend "Alchemy Index" "Illusion of Safety" and "Artist in the Ambulance".**

 **Anyway, imagine Michael being played by Johnny Yong Bosch and Gabriel by Bryce Pappenbrook.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

In a dark room, a red blade slashed and sliced through grimm. Its owner wore a confident grin, a muscle shirt, his hair in the form of a rose, and a white mask with red lines over the eyeholes. More of the aggressive demons approached the swordsman, his weapon steady and not a hint of relent on his mind. Mercury and Emerald stayed to the back, Watts and Hazel at the opposite side of the room. The two grown men looked slightly impressed while the two young adults just watched looking disappointed.

The last grimm to approach Adam was an ape grimm, growling as it made its slow approach on all fours. It stood on its hind limbs, beat its chest, and let out a loud roar. As the chandelier above shook, Adam sprinted towards the grimm with the utmost confidence. The beast's reflexes kicked in and it punched at the man, only for him to sidestep and stab the monster through its armpit. All the way through, he pulled the blade down and cut off the ape's arm. As it grabbed its shoulder with the other hand, the swordsman jumped into the air and horse cut its head in half.

Adam smiled triumphantly as the room filled with smoke from the corpses of his dead foes.

"Time!" He shouted, followed by Mercury checking his phone.

"One minute, sixteen seconds." Mercury replied.

"Cinder could do all of that in ten." Emerald angrily whispered to herself.

Emerging from the shadows was a woman with bleach white skin, burning red eyes, visible black veins, and a wearing purple and black dress.

"Cinder also had five years of training under me. Here on your first day, you've at least shown you can hold your own against a large unit of grimm." The pale woman noted. "However, our mission is now your mission; the grimm are now a tool for you to use to take Ozpin down, no one else."

"Of course, Salem." Adam remarked. "After all, _my_ dream can't work without the success of yours."

Salem never would have thought an over-confident demeanor would irritate her so much. "That'll be all for now. You're dismissed."

Adam made his way out to his new quarters, or what used to be Cinder's quarters. The two grown men approached the doors as well, Hazel looking back at Salem.

"M'lady, do you want us to wait in the war room for our next debriefing?" He asked.

Salem nodded her head. "Actually, I'd like some time alone. I'm going to wait in there and you can come back in about half-an-hour."

With the two men gone, Emerald and Mercury made their way out as well. Just before this, the two warriors spoke about ditching Salem at their first opportunity, but was it that simple? Adam had now taken Cinder's place in Salem's grand scheme, meaning he'd be the one to further her dream. Would abandoning Salem mean spitting on Cinder's grave? Cinder gave Emerald a home away from the slums and gutters she survived on, so was she only a part of Cinder's group so she wouldn't go hungry anymore? More questions pounded in the girl's mind as she and her friend walked off.

Now by herself, Salem walked out of the training room and through her castle's hallways. Along the walls were statues of muscular men and beautiful women, wrapped in cloths and togas. At the end of the hallway stood a statue of two men holding a large disk which had three smaller circles in the center. Engraved in the stone beneath their feet were three children: a little girl, a little boy, and another little boy between them who had devil horns, angel wings, and talons on his toes.

The pale woman took note of the boy in the middle, a deep sigh releasing from her nose, and then looked to the boy to her right, her eyebrows cocked in an arrow. She shrugged it off, well knowing she was only wasting her time staring at the lifeless marble. To the statue's right was the door leading to the war room, windows surrounding the table with candlesticks hanging above. She made her way across the table but did not sit in her seat. Rather she continued towards one of the windows and stared out at the broken moon. That night, when the moon shattered and her world, along with Remnant, had been irreversibly altered forever. This train of thought led to recalling when she altered a certain _other_ person's world forever.

"I can save you…I can grant you the power you wish…I can help you achieve your rightful destiny." Those words, one of the first she'd ever said to Cinder, were the same she'd said to Watts, Tyrian, Hazel, and all the others who'd come before for millennia. Was any of this worth it anymore? Yes! Ozpin was the embodiment of everything Salem found wrong with humanity, and no force on the planet could change her mind. Though, she still couldn't stop thinking of Cinder, another subordinate fallen in the crusade to uncover the truth.

"Cinder…" She thought. "…is this my fault?" Her head bent down, blood forming around her tear ducts. The mere image of Cinder brought back memories to Salem, so much so that she reached into her dress for something that she carried everyday. Peeking behind herself to make certain she was alone, Salem pulled out a locket about the size of her palm. Once she clicked the button, two pictures inside revealed Salem in a much different appearance: she was smiling, truly heartfelt, and her hair was down with long locks reaching past her breasts. In one picture, a man with the same eyes, hair, face veins, and skin was next to her but giving the same heartful smile. In the other picture, they sat next to one another with a little girl, same skin and eyes as the adults above her, sitting on Salem's lap.

"So much time has passed…this is the first time in more than a decade that I've opened this locket." The woman looked up to the sky. "Cinder…you were the one to finally put a dent in Ozpin's reputation, only to be piled onto his mountain of corpses…I _will not_ let any of your progress be wasted."

* * *

Smog covered the sky, blooming in dark clouds that floated into the atmosphere. The streets were mobbed with people, all were wearing just casual clothes, yet everything felt dead. Cars filled the streets with a subway screaming above a strip of brownstone houses and further into the heart of the city until it reached its next stop only to scream again once its passengers boarded. A good chunk of the entire city was far away, working within the refinery or mine that belonged to the Schnee Dust company at the base of the mountain. As a result, a new face in this city was like a lit match in a dark room, and Lucy new full well who the lit match riding behind her was.

Once crossing a cobblestone bridge into the suburban neighborhood in the west, Cinder looked around at all the shops and people on the sidewalks. Kids were walking with their parents, couples walking hand-in-hand, teenagers simply wandering with earbuds blaring music in their ears; this city wasn't as charismatic as Vale, but it felt more laid back.

A confusing question then popped in Cinder's mind. "Hey, what gives? I thought this place was full of criminals and villains, so why does everyone look so peaceful?"

Lucy snickered. "Well, sorry if we don't have those fancy bad guys with top hats who twirl their moustaches." Cinder became annoyed by that comment, but Lucy continued. "Don't get the wrong idea, this city's home to a few gangs, looters and bandits come in all the time to start trouble, and the cops are usually too lazy to do anything outside of major emergencies." That last part struck a chord in Cinder's heart. Calling out for help and have no one answer. "Despite all that, Fegefeuer's almost like a sanctuary for most of the people living here, men and women who felt like outcasts or wanted to escape their pasts. The dust mine and refinery hire basically anyone willing to do the blue-collar work and we have farms in the southeast that sell their stuff cheaper than the food markets. For us, this whole place is basically a second chance." Usually, Cinder would brush a monologue like this off, but she felt rather intrigued by what Lucy was saying.

Twenty minutes passed before the bike came to a stop at an old boarding house, stores and other apartments neighboring the old building. The outside of the building, save for the shining windows, looked old and run down as if it were built decades ago. Even the stoop had a design that looked foreign to modern tastes. Still not trusting Lucy entirely, Cinder was determined to keep her grimm hand in her sweatshirt pocket. How long could she keep the secret hidden? Only time would tell.

"Welcome to 'chateau de Crap-hole'!" Lucy said, opening the door to its fullest extent and almost knocking the landlord over. He looked to be in his early sixties and wore brown pants, a white polo shirt, and brown dress shoes.

"Dammit, Lucy. You trynna kill me?!" He shouted at her.

"That depends, is rent due today?" Lucy joked, even laughing at her own joke and lightly elbowing Cinder who only appeared annoyed by the performance.

The two women traveled through the first-floor hallway, up one flight of stairs to the next floor, and down the hallway to a door labeled "9 – Lucy" with the number in gold and her name on a strand of scotch tape. Lucy pulled a keychain out of her shorts and used a gold one to unlock the front door. Upon opening, Cinder's first impression came from the smell of socks and pizza. As the door opened all the way, she realized it was true that "the nose knows". They entered into the living room which had a couch to the left, carpeting, a window opposite the door, and a flat screen against a wall that separated the room from the kitchen. The wall, for reasons Cinder didn't want to find out about, had claw marks and beer stains. The couch and carpet, as well, had stains that smelled of either food or alcohol. Speaking of which, the table next to the couch had two pizza boxes stacked on top of each other with beer bottles sitting on top. Underneath the TV was a game console with four controllers and dozens of M-rated games.

Cinder cringed just being in this place, fearful of what the bathroom, bedroom, and the inside of the fridge looked like. As they continued through and the smells getting stronger, to which Cinder was now feeling nauseous, Lucy pulled out a blanket from under the couch. Of course, it had stains as well.

"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you've got nowhere to sleep, no friends to call, no food to eat, and no deodorant…" Lucy said, extending a finger with each phrase and Cinder feeling depressed now that the whole picture's plain to see. She shook her head, her face pointed at Lucy's boots. "Tch-hahahaha, don't sweat it. You can stick around here for tonight if you want."

Cinder's head rose and her eye opened wider. "…why are you helping me?"

There was a moment of silence before Lucy interrupted it by smacking her own forehead. "OH! I'm so stupid. How'd I forget that part?" She said, sounding almost like she was just waiting for Cinder to ask the obvious question. "Well, I can't help it. You looked cool as hell on the mountain, killing grimm left and right, levitating and shooting fire everywhere! Hell, I was just waiting for you to kick the bucket, but you kept surviving and I got bored waiting, so I thought, 'Maybe I can make a friend.'"

"'Surviving'?" Cinder questioned in her mind. "'got bored waiting', '…a friend…'?"

Cinder stepped up to Lucy's face. "Who says we're friends? I didn't ask for your help back there. I could've taken out all those grimm on my own."

Lucy didn't move. Her face went from happy to puzzled, trying to find the correct response.

"What do you want, then? I welcomed you into the place you were looking for, so if I'm not your friend then why did you come with me? Why are you still here?" Lucy's words cut deep, Cinder unaware of what to even say next.

Without a word, Cinder turned around and headed for the door. Expecting to leave without a problem, she was proven wrong when she felt Lucy's hand tightly grab her shoulder.

"Ah, come on! Don't be like that!" Lucy shouted as charismatically as she could. "Dude, it's cool. Buuuuuuuut, if you're interested, how 'bout we spend the day playing on my game console and later tonight, I'll introduce you to some of my friends?"

Cinder stood there, wanting to say yes but not recalling any desire to make friends on her way to the city. "Seriously, cut the lone wolf crap. This town's full of people with shady backgrounds. What've you got to lose?"

Lucy's insensitive personality was starting to grow on Cinder. Finding no reason to object, Lucy fired up the game console, until a reason to object finally came to her: her grimm hand.

"You okay? You look worried." Lucy said.

"Uh, yeah. Just…I kinda have a scar on my left hand, so I'm not that comfortable playing games."

"Oh damn…that related to why you wear that other glove?"

"Uh, yeah! Used to have a matching pair, then I lost the other one. You can play and I'll wa-"

"Oh don't worry about it. I'll be right back."

Lucy got up and came back from a room in apartment's hallway. In her hand was a white gardening glove.

"I don't ever use it. My brother works at an orphanage and he begged me to come with. It was garden day, so he made me go out and buy this pair just so I could play in the dirt with the kids."

An odd feeling surged through Cinder, an emotion she hadn't felt in years: appreciation. She turned around so Lucy wouldn't see her put the glove on, grabbed the controller, and the two began to play. First was a racing game starring plumbers, dragons, monkeys, and princesses. The second was a generic shooter game whose multiplayer was populated mostly by kids. The third and last was a game with seven in the title and featured a teenager wielding a giant sword. All the while, Lucy was the one cracking jokes and trying to get a laugh out of Cinder, but the most she got were scarce amounts of smiles.

Before either of them knew it, the time was already 8:00 PM. Once Lucy discovered the time, she turned off the game console and went into her room. By herself in the living room, Cinder took another look around and, despite nothing changing in the past several hours, somehow felt unphased. Nothing, not even the smell from the food and alcohol stains, bothered her. She sat back down and put both her hands in her sweatshirt pocket and just realized she still had her Ten minutes had passed and Lucy finally stepped out of her room, through the hallway, and into the living room, to which Cinder's eye opened in shock.

The albino wore a white, strapless dress that cut off at the thighs. Her high heels were also white and had a flowery design on the straps above the toes and ankles. The only odd choice was a pair of sunglasses, the dark lenses standing out among the rest of her hair and outfit.

Cinder was dumbfounded, but her response was all that was necessary to say. "Wow!"

"Awww, baby. You're too sweet." Lucy playfully replied.

Cinder immediately became frustrated. "NO, YOU DITZ! It's just…I never thought I'd see you…wearing anything like this. I just thought…your style was always like…uh-"

"Crack whore?" Lucy interrupted.

"…I was gonna trap queen." Cinder continued.

"Or a bum?"

"Or a drifter."

"Or, Heaven forbid…a hipster?!"

There was a moment of silence before Lucy busted out laughing and Cinder formed an innocent smile.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to work right now. I gotta help set up, but you can stop by around ten. That's when we'll start our performance."

Cinder felt confused by the last statement. "Er…'performance'?"

"Yeah. I sing at this club every Friday and Saturday night, and my two brothers play drums and guitar, while everyone eats and drinks." Lucy answered, Cinder still surprised by the news and just now remembering today was Saturday. "Hey, it's either this or work in that smelly refinery every day. Plus, I work as a waitress during the week, including Friday, so money's never an issue."

Lucy left the door key on the kitchen countertop above the TV for Cinder to use later.

"The club's on Austin Blvd. It's got a big LED sign outside that says "Junior's Club" above the doors. Just keep going down this road and go left on the boulevard. You can't miss it."

With that said, Lucy waved goodbye and made her way out. Cinder just sat there, on the couch, with no one to talk to. Those words Lucy spoke "Maybe I can make a friend" just kept repeating in the maiden's mind. Did she finally have a friend? Mercury and Emerald came to mind, but were they "friends", despite her referring to them as disciples? Even when they fought against Amber, the previous fall maiden, together? No. She remembered how the two of them were on the ground and Amber had her back turned toward Cinder and she took advantage of the opportunity. Mercury and Emerald's safety didn't even come to mind at that moment.

Her constant thinking of them went on for two hours before she realized she only had fifteen more minutes to make Lucy's performance. If this was a club, could she get in with her current outfit? She also just realized she still had no shoes. Without any care, Cinder snuck into Lucy's room, praying it didn't somehow smell worse than the living room. Upon entering her door, besides realizing her fears were correct, she notices Lucy's pair of tennis shoes and slipped them on. Coincidentally, they fit her perfectly. She left the room and pulled her glass high heels out of her sweatshirt pocket and left them by the couch, followed by her heading out the door, the key in her pocket.

Following Lucy's directions, Cinder found herself outside of a large building which had "Junior's club" in the LED sign above. Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu came over her. The sound of alternative rock music bled through the glass doors, so she looked through and was glad to see everyone inside wore normal clothing, not too different from her sweatshirt and jean shorts. She opened the door and full force of the volume hit her, along with the full view of the place.

The inside looked like a packed restaurant. People everywhere, mostly adults, sitting at tables or booths or just on a stool at the bar. In the center was Lucy, sitting on a stool and singing into a microphone held in its stand. She was playing bass guitar and behind her were two men on electric guitar and drums. They both looked very similar, most likely twins, except the drummer had a fade and an average build while the guitarist had hair that reached past his jawline and wore a t-shirt that exposed his massive arms. As they played their hearts out to the hardcore beat, Cinder's line of sight was broken when a girl with neck-length hair and wearing a red dress walked by, a tray of food in hand. She looked oddly familiar, but Cinder couldn't figure it out. Then she looked to her left and found the bar, another girl in a white dress but long black hair who had the same face as the one in the red dress. She sat back with her elbows against the bar, observing the band, and behind the bar was the bartender, a man with black hair that connected to his beard and moustache.

The applause of the audience caught Cinder's attention, followed by Lucy thanking everyone for coming out to hear them and that they'd take a quick intermission. The albino walked off the stage, the two men following her after they all laid their instruments down, and approached Cinder. Upon walking towards her, Lucy sat at a table with high chairs and waved at Cinder to sit with them, and so she did, feeling neither shyness nor excitement. She was just curious to what would happen next.

"Well, I guess we're a sight for…a sore eye!" Lucy joked, something that didn't amuse Cinder.

The amber eyed woman took note of the men before her. It was true, they were twins, and quite handsome. The one with a fade had a bit of a cynical look to him, reminding her of Lucy. His laugh even sounded like hers. The other one, despite looking as built as a body builder, just wore an awkward smile from hearing that joke. It was almost like he cared about making a good first impression, something Cinder didn't expect from a sibling of Lucy's.

"Anyway, Cinder, these are my younger brothers. This hipster-looking dumbass is Michael…"

"Pleased to meet ya', darlin'." Michael said, extending his hand to shake hers.

"And this big lug is my youngest brother, Gabriel."

Cinder extended her hand to the man, his own hand large enough to completely cover hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Lucy's said a lot of good things about you."

Cinder looked back at Lucy, who just gave a kitty smile and tried to look innocent. She looked back at Gabriel, his face and name seeming familiar to her, yet just couldn't put her finger on it.

* * *

 **Goddamn, did this feel like forever. Hopefully you guys like this so far, and hopefully volume 6 of RWBY will focus on fleshing out and developing the villains. My personal theory is going to be mixed in with this story, mostly making Salem out to be more tragic than what we've been led to believe.**

 **Anyway, I'm exhausted and am going to bed (gotta be up at 6 to go to work).**

 **Please rate, favorite, follow, and review. I'm always open to learning and to improve.**


	6. Chapter 6, Voice in my head

**Chapter 6. Voice in my head**

 **Well, another week of my internship under my belt and payday was this past Thursday, so I guess the only thing I can do at the moment is continue this fanfiction. I'm sorry if my pacing seems slow, but I don't work with any set schedule, especially because I'm trying to start up 2 of my own series simultaneously (trying to take advantage of my summer vacation). Well, anyway, back to Ruby's arc.**

 **As for the character of Junior, imagine him being played by Patrick Seitz. Melanie can stay the same as in the show and trailer, but Miltiades would be voiced by Cassandra Lee Moris (voice of Taiga from "Toradora").**

* * *

A small flock of seagulls soared over an empty shore, an orchestra of calming waves washing up and falling back in an endless loop. Behind the shore was a cliff, thousands of feet above water level, with a guard rail running between it and a street which led into the mountains of Atlas. Racing up the road was a long stretch limousine, its rider in the back checking his teeth for pieces of salad from his dinner at the expensive restaurant. Weeks after his daughter locking him and General Ironwood in his closet, followed by numerous complaints from his employees about working conditions, especially the faunas, Jacque Schnee finally got a break. Tonight, it was just him, his firstborn daughter, Winter, and his son, Whitley, discussing the future of the Schnee Dust company. Like his siblings, Whitley's hair was white and his attire was mostly blue, save for his black tie and white shirt. Through his father pulling certain strings, Whitley was nearly guaranteed a spot at one of Atlas's top universities. From there he would go on to double-major in entrepreneurship and finance and eventually fill his father's shoes as the company's CEO. As the car sped home, and Jacque had passed out from just three glasses of wine, Whitley sat by the window, peering out at the broken moon and his family immediately came to mind. With Winter in the military and Weiss on the loose, it was only common sensical that Whitley would

"Weiss…" He thought. "This is your fault: father's never been angrier at any point in his life. One glass of wine after another, and any time he opened his mouth it was just about you and Winter. Hell, Winter had to calm him down twice after he heard you being mentioned." He noticed the flock of seagulls fly within the moon, their arrow formation near perfect. He then recalled dinner, how his father referred to him, the only time he did, as "my last reliable source."

"…even though you've basically given me the seat to his throne…why can't I stop thinking about you?" His eyelids drooped down to a squint. "Hell, Winter won't even stop mentioning you…when's the last time she talked about me that much?"

He took one last look at the moon, enjoying its brilliant glow, until a ship flew overhead breaking through the moonlight for a few seconds. This would've annoyed Jacque, Whitley especially before Weiss left, but the young boy had no reaction to it. He had his father's seat, something Winter and Weiss were the first in line for.

The boy heard his father mumble in his sleep, something about "Not now Whitley." Just wanting to go home, Whitley knocked on the window to the driver's seat. The driver opened the window, revealing the blue-faded hair under his hat.

"Yes, sir Whitley?" The chauffeur asked.

"How long before we reach the manor?" Whitley asked.

"We're almost at the intersection before the front gates, sir Whitley. My guess is…five minutes."

To Whitley, it was five minutes too long. "Alright, thank you, Henry."

Once he said, "You're welcome, sir Whitley." Henry closed the window and continued home. The chauffeur looked at the intoxicated man in backseat and recalled his last words before passing out, once again drunk rambling about how, "If she were here, I'd be giving her the beating of a lifetime."

Henry heard rumors of Weiss Schnee, her personality…supposedly…being no different than any of the other rich snobs in Atlas. It was, however, a shock to him to hear Weiss tell him, "Get out" at the post-concert party once he started hitting on her. In a way, it was relieving to hear she wasn't like all of them, though that didn't make him less miserable. All that kissing up to Jacque to let him into the concert and party, and it amounted to nothing.

The young man looked at the moon as he drove forward, noticing the ship whose silhouette broke the flow of light.

Almost everyone was aboard the ship. Blake's parents and Ilia were on their way to Vale to help in rebuilding the academy and city. Shortly after Beacon's fall, to which the White Fang were a big contributor of said incident, more humans around those parts developed a prejudice against faunas. All the more reason to build up a better reputation and earn back respect. Some groups of young "revolutionaries" went as far as using spray paint to mark territory between humans and faunas.

"This'll be the day we've waited for! This'll be the day we open up the doors…" The singer blared out of the earbuds shared between the two girls.

"I love this song so much. Just wish the band's newer stuff was just as good." Yang said.

"Well, it's always important to have a good first impression." Blake countered. "Just because they're not doing well now doesn't mean they can't improve. They've got a new album coming out in October, so let's just keep faith."

Qrow, Sun, Nora, Ren, and Jaune sat behind all of them in their own respective seats. Within the ship were twelve seats overall; three rows of four seats with an aisle splitting them vertically in half. A seat for Oscar was right next to Qrow, empty of its owner. Beside Blake and Yang, in another row of seats, was Ruby and Weiss. Weiss stared out the window, her right hand against the window sill and left hand shaking in her lap.

"You nervous?" Ruby asked her friend.

"Yeah. Let's just say I didn't leave my father on the best of notes…not to mention I'm not all that keen on seeing my siblings again either." Weiss answered.

"Well, Professor Ozpin _did_ say he'd handle anything your dad threw at us. He _does_ know Ironwood after all."

"Yeah, but still…I think if anything, I'd rather talk to my brother first."

Ruby felt confused, having only seeing Weiss's relationship with her sister and most of it feeling more like a relationship between a drill sergeant and grunts. "What's…your relationship with your brother like?"

The albino sighed. "…Whitley's…he thinks he needs to be more like my dad: just always in control."

Ruby sighed as well. As she was about to say she felt sorry for her friend, Wiess interrupted.

"With Winter and I as his older sisters, he never had anyone to look down at. I always thought he felt left out for some reason, and now that Winter's in the military and I basically burned the bridge to getting my dad's seat on the exec board, I'm pretty sure that seat is all he wants now. I'm just concerned what he'll do next time I see him."

Weiss looked over at Ruby, annoyed by the sight of Ruby on her scroll.

"Have you been listening at all?!" Weiss exclaimed at her attention deficit friend.

"Oh, yeah. Your grandpa found…something in a tent with Ironwood. Look, just listen to this song; it'll relax you." Ruby told her, handing her the left earbud.

While Qrow was drinking from his flask again, Oscar was in the lavatory towards the back, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the sink.

"Oscar, what's troubling you?" Ozpin asked.

"It…It's you…I'm sorry…" Oscar replied, his hands shaking and a single bead of sweat slipping into his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked, trying to sound concerned.

"I mean you…are you always seeing what I'm seeing? Can I even take a shower or go to the bathroom without worrying about you…seeing stuff? I don't wanna be alone, but…can I ever go on a date or get married without you…always being there?" It was then that Oscar recalled the few times that Ozpin took over his body without even a warning.

"Oscar, please calm down. Once I find a solution, you'll have your old life back. At the moment, however, please remain calm. I only took you over because the situation demanded it. I have no interest in living your life for you. Also, don't worry about 'seeing' stuff; I can turn off my vision at will." Ozpin's reassuring voice at least made a dent in Oscar's anxiety. The boy opened the door to the lavatory, went back to his seat, and fell asleep next to Qrow. The huntsman's drinking time had to be interrupted, however, when his scroll rang and the caller ID was titled "Ironwood".

"What's up, magnet head?" The drunk asked.

"You're drunk again, aren't you?" The larger man asked, not even remotely surprised by Qrow's incompetency.

"I'm just making up for lost time…uh 'kay?"

The general let out a long sigh of depression. "Look, you should be touching down any minute at the landing pad and Jacque's on his way to his manor right now. Unless you want his daughter grounded for life, I suggest you act quickly before he gets word that she's here."

"Not a problem, Ironman." He said, finishing the last of his whiskey.

"Also, just so I'm clear, Ozpin _is_ with you, right? That kid you put on the phone has Ozpin's soul, right?"

"For the thousandth time, Yes! You don't believe me, you can ask him yourself once we touch down."

* * *

Before anyone realized, it was already 1:55 AM. Junior and the girls were cleaning up the bar and Lucy's band was cleaning up the stage. Some extra staff were cleaning up the tables and booths, most of whom looked to be in the age range of sixteen to twenty-four. Cinder just sat idly by on a couch at the entrance, just wanting to escape the restaurant's upbeat atmosphere. She could hear Junior joking with the twins and Lucy's brothers, the albino herself was setting her bass guitar in its case.

"Yeah, and…get this…he was so drunk, that when I asked how he was, he asked _me_ for my ID." Junior joked, Mitliades giggling and Melanie and Michael rolling their eyes. Gabriel simply smiled while Cinder frowned, the simple camaraderie irritating her.

It was then that Cinder continued to notice the town's atmosphere. Fegefeuer was meant to be crime ridden, but hearing Junior, a former crime boss, joke around with everyone only confused her more. She looked out the window and noticed the few skyscrapers, probably no more than twenty-five stories, lit up along the edges and top corners in green lights.

"You knew here?" A voice asked her, revealed to be Gabriel.

Cinder felt annoyed by the large man's concern. "What's it to you?" She scowled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Nothing really, just want you to feel at home."

Those words rang in her head. "At home." She pushed past him, putting enough force on him to go two steps back, and walked up to Lucy. He didn't fell anger, however, but instead immediately let it go.

"Hey, can we go now?" She asked her, fiercely.

"Yeah, sure. Bathroom's that way." Lucy joked, straightening up her sunglasses.

"Can we go back to your place?!" Cinder scowled.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Melanie looked irritated by Cinder's lack of happiness while Miltiades looked sorry as if she were the one at fault. Junior hardly recognized Cinder, her new appearance coupled with the fact they never knew each other directly, though he didn't feel distraught by her.

"Here, Lucy, I'll take care of everything. You and your friend can go home." Junior told them, Cinder cringing at the term "friend."

Lucy looked at Cinder with a smirk, aware of her cringing, and grabbed her guitar case and placed it in a closet behind the bar. With that done, she walked towards the door and motioned for Cinder to follow suit.

As they were leaving, everyone, save Michael and Melanie, said goodbye. Lucy waved back while Cinder kept her line of sight towards the door. When they were walking past Gabriel, he was about to motion a goodbye wave before Cinder gave him a death glare, to which he ceased in his motion. Lucy saw the whole thing and just laughed it off.

Without another word, the two girls got back to Lucy's apartment, Cinder still disgusted by its usual odor. Lucy got a blanket from her room and allowed Cinder to sleep there.

"So…how long am I allowed to be here?" Cinder asked.

Lucy paused. "Hm. Didn't really think of that."

"What?! You let me into your home without even thinking about _any_ repercussions?" Cinder asked, to which Lucy just shrugged. "What if I was a serial killer and tried to kill you in your sleep?"

Lucy giggled at that. "You're certainly welcome to try. Remember: throat for slow death, carotid artery for quick one."

Lucy looked as if she were joking throughout that entire sentence, to which Cinder looked incredibly dumbfounded. How could _anyone_ be so nonchalant about letting a complete stranger, let alone a dangerous one, into their home without thinking it over? Not interested in excavating the labyrinth that was Lucy's thought process, Cinder accepted the blanket placed it on the couch.

"I got a spare toothbrush too. If you want, you can shower too, but it's only a stall." Lucy explained.

Ten minutes passed and Cinder was now undressing in the bathroom. It had to be the biggest pigsty in the entire apartment, with Lucy's underwear and bras hanging on the rack, the wooden floor looking warped, walls looking stained, and sink and toilet looking incredibly disgusting. It's like Lucy had never heard of cleansers. The only upside was that the water was clear and not any other color. Nonetheless, Cinder left most of her clothes on the couch while she wore only her underwear, bra, and pantyhose in the bathroom. As she discarded those as well, she looked herself in the mirror, more specifically her grimm arm and scar on her face. How long could she keep all of this a secret?

She just noticed the lack of pain in her right ankle. Her aura must've healed up her sprain by now. Looks like tonight was going to be a bit more bearable.

Cinder clicked off the lights in the living room and laid down on the bed, trying to drift off into a deep slumber.

* * *

In a large plain of darkness, a little girl with raven-black hair and wearing a white dress ran for her life, panting and tears falling from her eyes. What was she running from? Even she didn't know, just that whatever was behind her would hurt her immensely if she were caught.

"Cinder!" A man's voice shouted at her, the direction unclear.

The girl stopped and looked behind her, then to her right, then her left, until she heard him again. "Cinder! Ru-" The voice was interrupted by the sound of flesh being impaled, blood spilling in drops. The terrifying sound froze her in place, her hands shaking uncontrollably and her heart beating out of her chest. With one turn of her head, the child saw her father on his knees with a woman, donning a red battle suit that matched her eyes and black hair, holding the grip of a red sword piercing through the man's chest.

Cinder was shocked, unable to move, watching the closest person to her heart dying a slow death at the hands of a demon. As the sword disappeared from his body, the woman's body suddenly caught fire and exploded. Cinder screamed as she put her arms up to protect herself, but once the flames cleared, Cinder examined herself only to find the woman gone, the man still facedown on the colorless ground in a pool of his own blood, but she was now the adult she'd grown into. She even wore the same off-the-shoulders dress, anklet, and glass high heels as before as well.

Hoping for at least a hair of chance she could save him, Cinder ran to the man's body. Disregarding the stains on her dress his blood was giving her, Cinder wrapped the man in her arms; her left arm around his shoulders and right hand holding his left hand. He was barely alive, blood coming out of his mouth and trying to move his left arm. He managed to put a hand on her face as if examining a shiny diamond.

"Dad…" Cinder said, looking into the man's gaze as he slowly drifted off. "No. Dad, please stay with me. Please. Please…"

It was no use. The more she begged, the further he drifted off, his eyes growing cold and all the light disappearing. His hand fell from her face into the small puddle of blood that surrounded them. He breathed his last breath to which Cinder panted uncontrollably.

Just then, she felt a hand placed on her cheek, and all that negativity immediately slipped away. She even placed her left hand over the right hand that held her face.

"Oh, Dad. Thank goodness. I thought you wer-" Cinder stopped the moment she felt her heart sink.

Cinder wore a shocked face as she looked into the eyes of, not her father, but a young girl with long red hair and beautiful green eyes who had replaced him altogether. Blood flooded her mouth until it poured out and leaked down her neck into her cleavage where another hole, which also oozed blood, had been. Her eyes looked immensely terrified, tears overflowing in the ducts as they stared directly into Cinder's amber eyes, an equal amount of terror within them as well.

Cinder just remained frozen, holding this young and beautiful girl in her arms until she made one last cough of blood. Her head rolled to the side and all her strength to hold up her hand diminished. Cinder finished processing all that just happened and laid the corpse down, her hands shaking like they had hypothermia.

Just then, Cinder heard a gasp behind her. Turning her attention to it, her eyes opened at the sight of a saddened girl with short black hair and wearing a red and black outfit.

"Ruby…" Cinder thought.

The quiet moment was immediately interrupted when Ruby swung her arms and head back and a blinding light appeared from her eyes. Cinder was overwhelmed with fear as the light brightened to the point of blindness.

Gasping for air that couldn't come fast enough, Cinder woke up in a cold sweat, the blanket wet as a result. She sat up and found both of her hands shaking, finally realizing everything was just a nightmare when she noticed her grimm arm. Once her breathing slowed, she felt the need to go into the bathroom and take another shower, and so she did.

After twenty minutes of sitting on the stall floor, Lucy started knocking on the door.

"Hey, this isn't the gym. Save me some hot water." Lucy exclaimed from outside.

Cinder took one last inhale before turning off the water, her human arm still shaking.

Once Cinder got to her clothes again without Lucy seeing her arm, the young woman got dressed and headed outside for a walk. Alone time was always the best thing for her and felt like a perfect way to begin the morning.

* * *

 **Viewers: What happened to the story?! This channel's dead.**

 **Me: No, guys, I've just been procrastinating and working at my internship…mostly the latter. This was going to be titled something else, since I originally planned for it to be longer, but I figured adding more stuff to this chapter would've disrupted my pacing. I'm writing this on Microsoft word and each chapter is around 6 or 7 pages, and this would've been like 9 or 10 if I were to continue. Hopefully the next chapter won't be so short, though I do intend to include more fights in the oncoming chapters, so look forward to that.**

 **Anyway, thanks for sticking around and reading this, guys. Please remember to like, favorite, follow, review, and have a beautiful day.**


	7. Chapter 7, Youhave silver eyes

**Chapter 7. You…have silver eyes**

 **Sorry this didn't come out as fast as you all may have wanted. I'm still trying to get a lot of things together. Now that we've seen how Cinder acts when she's around complete strangers with no reason to leave, it's about time we see how they react to her smug personality, especially Lucy. Keep in mind, I mentioned how I imagine Erica Mendez playing Lucy, so I'm gonna bring out some Ryuko Matoi this chapter. Speaking of which, imagine the character of Rachel being played by Dawn Bennett (The woman who played Ren's mother in volume 4).**

 **I'm gonna give my own theory on the silver eyed warriors but not so much since this story is meant to focus on Cinder instead of Ruby and the world of Remnant. Trust me, there's a reason I'm writing it in this story.**

* * *

Cinder left the apartment at around eleven o'clock and headed down the same street towards Junior's restaurant, wearing the same clothes as always; jean shorts and sweatshirt. She didn't bother to put on the remains of her red dress and pantyhose, just brought them outside with her and tossed them into a random dumpster. She asked to borrow Lucy's tennis shoes again and left behind her high heels and black glove. To cover her gimm arm, she still wore the white gardening glove, the first gift she'd receive from anyone in…actually, she couldn't remember the last time she received a gift out of compassion. She's had twenty birthdays and hadn't had a party since her fifth. Sure, Salem gave her dresses and trained her, but she had to work for all of those.

That nightmare of Pyrrha Nikos came back to mind. Why was she there in the first place? Why would Cinder ever even try to remember her? She was walking to clear her head, yet the more steps she took, the more anxious she became with these overwhelming thoughts. Then there's Junior and the twins, some of Torchwick's old acquaintances in Vale. Were they run out of business by the grimm attack? Finally, Lucy just kept bashing Cinder in the head; her nonchalant attitude towards everything as if life was all just one big joke. Cinder felt like she should've been offended by all of that, yet Lucy actually gave her a glove that now hides her arm. For the first time since she'd met Salem she felt thankful towards someone else…and hated it.

"Maybe there's a clothing store I can at least go to and check out, perhaps a cheap sundress to look at." The scarred woman thought to herself.

As she continued further down the road, she turned towards Junior's restaurant only to find it closed for the day. It was Sunday, after all. Conveniently, across the four-lane boulevard, was a department store, most likely for people who needed a quick set of clothes for the bars and restaurants on the other side of the road.

Curious, Cinder went inside and wandered around until she stumbled upon the jewelry section. All of it was gold and diamonds, practically screaming at Cinder to wear them. She felt for her earing on her right side, recalling when Salem first gave that to her once she awakened her semblance for the first time. In the goddess's own words, "Consider it a reminder that the more powerful you become, the more you can gain."

Next, she approached a section of the store with ball gowns and wedding dresses. Most of them looked bad to her, primarily because there was every shade of the rainbow and Cinder preferred maroon. Then, catching her attention like a camera flash, she saw an off-the-shoulders dress with gold circles that lined up along the arms and down the abdomen. It looked similar to her old dress, the same one Salem gave her right after securing Adam Taurus's place underneath her thumb. In all honesty, Cinder refused to wear anything that made her feel less than beautiful, and Salem promised her all of that and more as long as she followed every order to a T. Though attacking Ruby at Haven, despite Salem's order not to, may not have been the smartest of her decisions.

All of this looking around only made her more depressed. All those years of training, learning about the maidens and relics, about Ozpin from Salem's point of view; all of it was slowly going down the drain. Whether Salem believed she was alive or dead, why would it matter now, _especially_ after all of this failure? Even if Salem believed her to be alive, why would Salem want her back? What miracle could Cinder pull off to be welcomed back to her goddess?

However, this place very well could be her new home, so why _not_ get acquainted with her surroundings?

Further down the street, in her opposite direction, a child was tearing up as he entered the stood in front of his new parents. It was the three of them and an elderly woman with her hair in a braid around her shoulder. All four of them stood in front a building, a sign above the front door reading "Saint Oum's Orphanage."

"Oh Charlie, don't cry. This is your new family." The elderly woman said to the young couple.

The twelve-year-old boy held back his tears until his new mother embraced him, to which he returned the hug and his floodgates reopened.

A huntsman stood by the passenger side of the car and opened the doors for the new family. "Tch. Easiest job yet." He thought to himself. Like Cinder, he was surprised Fegefeuer had given them no hard time despite its reputation for housing criminals.

The woman said her final goodbye to the boy, a comforting smile on her face, and waved at him as he waved back at her from the backseat window. She took a sigh of relief, knowing she had completed her task of caring for the boy to her fullest capability…only to hear loud banging and kids screaming from behind the front door and her relief was replaced with anxiety.

Upon entering the door, she found three girls ganging up on one boy. Two of the girls looked to by around six or seven-years-old while the third girl and the boy had to both be five. The two of them had the same black hair, but the girl had dark blue eyes while the boy's eyes were amber colored. That same girl had done most of the bullying out of all three of them.

"What do you say, Jack? Say you're sorry!" The girl exclaimed at him.

"No! I'm right, Tera!" The boy angrily replied.

"Okay, okay! Break it up!" The woman shouted, clapping her hands at them. She dismissed the other two girls and demanded an explanation from the bickering couple.

"Jack called me ugly, Miss Rachel. It's his fault!" Tera yelled.

"It's true!" Jack loudly replied.

Rachel's patience wore thin, wishing her assistant, Gabriel, was working today. The kids always seemed to like him better, mostly from his large stature yet gentle and optimistic nature. It took about five more minutes of arguing, but she eventually separated the two and went to prepare lunch for the two dozen orphans. Work truly is at its best when everything's silent.

Meanwhile, Cinder kept walking down the boulevard until she reached a train crossing. There were three-foot-high walls with bushes on both sides of the tracks. Before she could cross the tracks, the lights flickered on, bells chimed, and the bars fell down, waiting for the oncoming freight train to pass. As she waited patiently, Cinder looked behind herself and, her eye widening at the disturbing imagery, saw graffiti all over the buildings lined up with the track. Some were just simple words and names tagged onto the walls, most likely gang-related, but what was most disturbing were the spray-painted images of faunus being killed or tortured. A few looked like they were being hung from the edges of the rooves while some were reaching out from an entrapping fire. Three faces with animal features, big enough to be seen from the other side of the tracks, had their eyes gouged out and blood running down the cheeks, their mouths looking like they were screaming in agony.

Cinder was shocked by what she had seen, only for the silence of the now long-gone train to catch her attention and direct her towards a mirror image on the other side. Images of people impaled or hung on trees were painted on the sides of the buildings. Cinder noticed there were more faunus on the other side of the tracks than on hers. In fact, she looked behind her and the few individuals she could see were all human. She recalled Lucy saying something about their being gangs in the city.

"Maybe a rogue chapter of the White Fang?" She thought to herself.

As she slowly walked towards the tracks, she caught the eyes of the faunus on the other side. A young mother grabbed her son's hand and they quickened their pace away from her, while a group of three teenagers made a wall by the crosswalk by the opposite side of the tracks. They were all faunus: A girl with wolf ears and a gray/white tail, another girl with black skin and a lizard's tail, and in between them was a boy of large stature, though not as big as Gabriel, with tiger whiskers and orange eyes and a black goatee.

"Sorry, toots, but _you're_ not welcome here." The tiger faunus said.

Cinder took that as a challenge in lieu of a warning, especially hearing them say "Toots". A smug grin formed from cheek to cheek. "Is that a fact? If you think you can take me…"

A glass sword formed in her right hand, to which the three faunuss' expressions went from smug to concerned. The tiger stepped forward, his hands shaking and his eyebrows cocked in an anger expression.

"L-Look lady. Just stay on your side of the tracks! We don't want trouble and neither do you!" He exclaimed, trying to mask the slight fear in his voice.

Cinder's smug grin only widened as she continued towards them. "Sorry, but I'm not good at following orders. How 'bout I start giving them?"

She crossed the first track, to which the three teenagers pulled out their weapons. The tiger pulled out a pair of brass knuckles with a pistol attachment. The wolf pulled out a sawn-off shotgun with retractable twin bayonets on each barrel from her leather jacket. The lizard pulled out a pistol and a combat knife, nothing special.

"S-Stop! We're warning you!" The tiger shouted, the fear more present this time and Cinder well aware of it.

The maiden slowly approached them, intentionally giving them anxiety and enjoying every second of it. The wolf faunas's hands began to shake, her breathing becoming louder as the raven-haired woman approached them. The mental pressure pushing all rationale out of her mind, she was the first to charge at her, yelling out a war cry.

"WAIT! STOP, KANJI!" The Tiger faunas shouted, but already too late.

With one hand, the faunas swung the blades down at Cinder, who blocked with her right arm, a smug grin like always. However, the wolf pulled the trigger, forcing to spin like a clock hand and allow her to rotate it back at Cinder, only for the maiden to block it again. Cinder knocked the gun out of her hands and kicked her square in the stomach, the faunas landing right onto the lizard girl with heavy force.

"…damn…human." The wolf said as she straightened her body and looked at Cinder.

Now it was just the tiger faunas, aware that he was alone and staring at the sadistic woman with overwhelming fear. Suddenly, the sound of a train horn blared from the western direction. While she stared at him with her cold, amber eyes, the two faunas girls were getting back up behind the maiden, the wolf giving him a wink. With his aura untouched and faith in his two friends, the tiger took one gulp and charged at the woman. He made one punch towards her, to which she easily dodged, grabbed his wrist and flipped him over onto the girls, only to see they had vanished from their spot. Already too late, the girls already made their attacks at Cinder from both sides, to which the maiden easily made another glass sword in her other hand and blocked both. Her aura was strong enough to take all the lizard faunas's bullets, to which she remained smug, but what truly surprised her was the tiger faunus. In the blink of an eye, he jumped back up and made a solid punch into Cinder's stomach, pulling the brass knuckle trigger upon impact, and sending the girl flying towards the path of the locomotive, surprise covering her face just like when she lost to Raven. The young faunus wore his own smug grin, his two friends copying him, as the raven-haired woman flew away in the path of the oncoming train. Law and order be damned.

Cinder was still in the air as she was just about to make contact with the locomotive's hull. Realizing her situation, Cinder activated her levitation ability and pushed herself faster towards the other side. The three teenagers looked puzzled, the train cars blocking the other side of what they were hoping was half of her body torn off. Before the train fully passed, however, Cinder levitated in plain sight, her eyes blazing fire, above the entire consent. Disregarding anyone who could see her, Cinder looked down at the teenagers, who looked more petrified than they had been the entire fight.

"Those…eyes!" The tiger thought.

Cinder swooped down and, a fireball forming in her hand, blew up the ground between them and sent all three faunas flying in different directions. Especially mad at the tiger, Cinder walked her way towards him. Once he got his bearings, he looked up at the blazing reaper angrily staring him down as she approached him. Still on the ground, he scooted back in fear until he hit a wall, memories of Lucy flooding back to him. His two friends had the same reaction and thoughts.

"You are so dead!" Cinder exclaimed. "I'm gonna melt you into that wall."

"E-Ey-Eyes." He whispered to himself, petrified as Cinder readied another fireball into right her palm. She didn't even pay attention to the boy's words.

"Wait!" Cinder turned towards the screaming lizard faunas. "Please, stop. We're sorry. It's just…no one's comfortable around humans here. We'll leave you alone, we swear, just don't hurt my friend."

Cinder took note of her waterfall eyes, the regret and sorrow spilling out of her. The maiden looked back at the tiger faunas, now stuck in his trance as he unconsciously stared at Cinder, babbling on about some nonsense loud enough for her to hear.

"Eyes…glowing eyes." He said, unaware of anyone listening.

"What?" Cinder asked, kicking him in the shoulder. "Snap out of it. What are you going on about?"

"Your eyes!" The wolf faunas called out, getting Cinder's attention. "They're…glowing…just like Lucy's."

* * *

Ruby walked downstairs to the hotel lobby with Oscar, who was wearing his backpack, and her uncle to meet General Ironwood. Weiss came along as well, but only because she was told Winter had accompanied the cyborg specifically to see her sister. The rest of the gang remained in their hotel rooms, awaiting further instructions. Once arriving, they found him, accompanied by Winter and his bodyguards, sitting around a table in a separate room in the foyer. He was cleanly shaven and wore the white uniform he always had. Sitting to his left was Winter, shooting Weiss a disappointed look, to which Weiss shot her sister the same look. The eldest sister got up from her chair and exited the room.

"Guess you could say you gave them…the cold shoulder!" Weiss thought, trying to imitate Yang's sense of humor. Weiss only facepalmed in response. "Good joke, bad time."

Winter approached her sister. "Hope your having a decent day, sister."

Feeling this was more personal, everyone left the two to their own devices.

"Father's been drinking enough to compete with mother, as of late, most of which is motivated by your…departure." Winter established.

"Tell 'Father' I don't care anymore. I'm going to become a huntress and I'll do it without any of his support." Weiss replied.

"…That's fine. He doesn't even know you're here. As far as he's concerned, you're still roaming around Mistral doing who-knows-what."

Weiss looked more annoyed. As if she cared in the slightest what his concern was.

"However, I _do_ feel you should talk to Whitley." Winter continued, Weiss's eyes lighting up. "He's been talking about you just as much and just as harshly as Father…but if anything, I'd to have all three of us sit down and just talk."

Weiss felt dumbfounded. Where was this coming from? Was Winter's schedule so devoid of assignments that she's bored enough to sit down with her family? Rather, did something happen while Weiss was gone?

Meanwhile, Ozpin, with Oscar's consent, approached the table with Qrow and Ruby at his side. The general saw the young boy and most of his worry began to dissipate. Once in the room, the guards exited and closed the doors behind them, allowing the three men and teenage girl alone to sit down in privacy.

"Oz…is that you?" The cyborg asked.

"Hmph. Quite, my old friend. I'd say, 'in the flesh' but that wouldn't be entirely true." He replied, Oscar wishing he could use his hand to facepalm after hearing that joke.

"Alright. Now then…about the relic from Haven."

Ozpin pulled the lantern out of the backpack, Ironwood's eyes widening in astonishment and relief flowing through him. He'd never seen a relic in his life, aside from the ancient texts Ozpin had shown him upon entering his inner circle for the first time. Being in its presence was almost enough to make him smile and forget the fall of Beacon.

"I…already have had my top engineers design a new vault, one that only I and you will know the password to, Oz." Ironwood said.

"Good, at least now, we won't have to worry about Salem and her group for a short while." Ozpin replied. "We know they're out there, presumably searching for another maiden. My fear is that now both the Summer and Winter maidens will be on her next to-do list. If Lionheart was working for her the entire time, the mere thought of any other traitors working under us makes me quake in these boots."

"However, that's where the good luck stops. I've tried looking for the winter maiden, assuming Salem would come after her next, but no one's turned anything up. She's definitely not here in Atlas; we would've found her by now. The last one, if I remember correctly, you said traveled to Mistral in an attempt to escape

"Uhm…excuse me." Ruby intervened, all three of the adults looking at her. "Not to be rude, but I've had a question that…I should've asked back at Haven…"

"Not now, Miss Rose." Ironwood interrupted.

"Hey, metal-mouth. Girl's got something important to ask, and it's our job hear her out and answer it." Qrow interjected, his soberness surprising Ironwood. Seeing a drunk lay off alcohol must've meant this was important.

"I…I want to know…what's makes my eyes so important?" Ruby asked, Ironwood raising his eyebrows, well aware of the gravity of the situation. "I mean…Uncle Qrow's told me I may be the last of my kind, but I don't know _who_ my kind are or were. How did I stop the dragon grimm at Beacon with them? Why couldn't I remember anything after using them? Why do they exist at all?" Ruby began raising her voice in worry and inhaled with each new question. "Why is it so rare? How long am I going to have to train with them?"

"Kid." Qrow said, trying to calm her down.

Ruby stood up. "Am I as strong as a maiden, or stronger or weaker? Are all of my friends in danger because of me?"

"Ruby, relax!"

"Why didn't you tell me how to use them before? Why couldn't I save Pyrrha or Weiss before Cinder hurt them?!"

Ruby's eyes began lighting up the entire room. Before the unthinkable could happen, Qrow grabbed her hand and pulled her back into her seat. Ozpin stared in astonishment and Ironwood looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Listen, we'll answer everything we can right now, but you need to relax. Clearly, your powers ignite when you feel stressed." Qrow reasoned, to which the girl breathed in and out and sat back down, holding onto his hand.

"M-Miss Rose…you're a special kind of warrior." Ironwood calmly continued. "Yes, as far as we know, you're the last silver eyed warrior. From what Ozpin and Qrow have told me, your abilities _are_ linked to your emotions, which _can_ make things dangerous for your friends." Ruby looked down, Qrow squeezing her hand. "However, like all power, it can be used for evil, and evil can be born from anywhere."

Ironwood motioned for Ozpin to speak. "Indeed. The silver eyed warriors had existed for centuries, living in their own small society in Vale. They'd always had the ability to manipulate grimm, a sort of…natural defense against Salem. I can't even say myself where they first began.

"…then the great war began." Ozpin continued, Ruby appearing fascinated. "We already mentioned how the war already began as a land dispute, and unfortunately, the society was dead center in the middle of the conflict. The side of settlers from Mistral demanded they have the land after traversing the seas and rightfully worked for it. The side of already existing in Vale believed it was rightfully their land, despite it being unused at the moment. The pinnacle of this series of tragic events occurred when the silver eyed warriors' society became divided between the opposing sides; one half felt sympathy for the settlers while the other demanded they be the front line of defense. Of course, regardless of all the peace talks within the society and between the opposing sides, war was imminent, and lines became drawn.

"Brothers and sisters slaughtered each other, and even when the great war had ended, bad blood still existed. It was a schism that could never be resewn together, and the remaining silver eyed warriors chose to scatter to the wind. Some, even, resorted to denouncing their society's peaceful ways and just becoming criminals."

Ruby didn't even realize she had held her breath the entire time until she exhaled once hearing Ozpin end his sentence.

"I'm sorry to say this Miss Rose, but…after seeing you display your abilities out in the public eye the night we met, I feared telling you of your potential power would only lead to more recklessness."

Ruby looked shocked. "Y-You mean…you didn't trust me?"

"To be fair, you _were_ only fifteen." Ironwood added, Ozpin motioning him to stop.

"Miss Rose, please understand. I never meant any harm by it. If you desire, we can begin training you on everything we know about it, including…your mother…"

Ruby's hand was shaking in Qrow's. He squeezed harder, hoping it would calm her down, but no dice. She continued to shake, and he continued holding on.

* * *

"What did you say?" Cinder asked the wolf faunas as she approached her, the maiden's eye still flaming. "Lucy's eyes glow?"

"Y-Yes…wait, you know Lucy?!" The girl asked, looking more terrified than ever. She even bent down in a bowing position. "W-We-We're so s-sorry. Please, forgive us. Don't tell her we fought you."

Cinder felt confused. She looked around, seeing people back off like cowards. The tiger faunas was still in a trance and the lizard faunas was on her feet but her knees were shaking. Sure, Lucy sounded sadistic, but what could she have done to earn all this fear? Wait, that wasn't the right question.

"Hey, you said her eyes glow like mine?" Cinder asked the wolf. "Does she also levitate?"

"Uh…y-yeah, I think we've seen her fly before…when she was massacring people left and right." She said, that last line to herself.

Deciding she'd heard enough, Cinder looked back at the opposite side and headed for Lucy's apartment. As she crossed the track, another tiger faunas emerged from a store still on the faunas side. Taking a lick from his ice cream cone, he felt a sudden shock when he noticed his son and his friends on the ground.

"Terrence, what happened?" The father asked him. He noticed his son was in a trance and slapped him awake. "Wake up, idiot!"

"It was her, mister Streifen! She attacked us!" The lizard faunas shouted to him.

The man looked in the direction of the human side and found the raven-haired woman walking away. He made a fist and shouted out to Cinder. "Hey, you bitch. Who do you think you are? Why you pickin' on a bunch o' kids? You had any real guts, you'd take me-"

The man was interrupted by Cinder turning back in his direction, her eye on fire. The man's eyes widened in astonishment. Hearing his voice cut to silence filled her with satisfaction, the man now standing still. Once she turned back around and continued to Lucy's apartment, the man only had one thought in mind.

"That couldn't be…Cinder?"

Meanwhile, the maiden continued further down the boulevard. "I fell for Raven's scheme, but now I know only maidens can make their eyes glow consistently. If this means what I think it does, perhaps I can still gain another maiden's power and get another relic for Salem. She'll take me back and everything can go back to normal. It's a leap of faith, no doubt, but how could I just let all those years of effort go to waste?" Cinder became enthralled by her plan, her smug grin returning.

She hurried back to the apartment and banged on Lucy's door for a solid five minutes, hoping to stab her with her grimm hand the second she opened it. After enough noise, a door a bit down the hall opened to see the commotion, and its tenant was Gabriel.

"Uh…can I help you?" He asked her.

Cinder looked in his direction, appearing as impatient as ever. "Where's your sister?"

"She said she wanted to take a walk through the dark wood forest. The place is always swarming with grimm, so she goes over there to blow off steam."

"Tch. Why am I not surprised?" She stormed off towards the stairs.

"Hey, wait. Why do you need to see her? Can't I help?"

"Like I'd ever want help from someone like you."

Her smugness got under his skin, questioning what the woman before him made her so bitter.

An hour of searching had passed before Cinder eventually found Lucy deep within the forest, the sun about to hit the center of the sky. Despite the title "Dark Wood Forest" sounding so ominous, the forest looked quite peaceful. Animals and plants roamed right where expected and there was a surprisingly large absence of grimm. It seemed as though Lucy truly was "blowing off steam". Something Cinder noticed, though not upon the first few instances, was the pathways leading through the forest. The maiden walked across each path, all of which seemed to be separated by consistent lines of trees, as if all these rows were layers upon layers leading to a center. It wasn't until Cinder heard grimm being slain for the first time that day, coming from the center of these layers.

Cinder quickly pursued the sound and came upon a black cloud climbing into the sky, the albino girl standing beneath it and staring in awe, her sword drawn and goggles reflecting the sun's light. She looked satisfied, staring at the dark cloud like a child staring at a fireworks display. She was standing within a patch of ankle-high grass and before her was a large lake, the layers of trees surrounding it completely.

"Busy, aren't we?" Cinder asked casually.

Lucy turned to the maiden like a child turning to their friend, placing her sword within its sheath. "Nah, I'm good. Why are you out here?"

"Well, I had something I wanted to ask you. You see, I took a walk this morning into the other side of town, purely out of curiosity, and…I found out you have a bit of a reputation."

Lucy could hear a slight ounce of implied threat in Cinder's statement…and her blood began to rush as a result. Why would Cinder want to fight her all of a sudden? Who cares? All she cared about was living in the moment, and nothing reminds a person they're alive like teetering on the brink of death.

"They said you have eyes that glow." Cinder continued, keeping Lucy's interest. "Well…that's a problem."

Lucy liked where this was going, practically wishing Cinder would either take the first shot or welcome her to take it.

"Lucy, let me ask you something: have you ever managed to kill someone who seemed invincible?"

"If they were invincible, I wouldn't be standing here right now, would I?"

"That's true, but even _that_ has its drawbacks. You see, the brighter a light shines, the more attention it gains. Don't you agree?"

Lucy placed her hand on the sword's hilt. "Completely. Are you saying you shine brighter than me?"

Cinder was well aware of Lucy's speed and reflexes. If she would succeed in stabbing Lucy with her grimm hand and stealing her power away, she'd have to move faster than ever before. "Well…there's only one way to find out."

Lucy grew a sadistic smile and took a dueler's stance, placing her right foot forward. "That so?" Cinder mirrored her stance, forming a glass sword in her right hand.

Out to their side by the grass's edge, a small drop of water dangled off a single blade of grass. The two girls held their stances just as the grass slowly tipped over. As the drop was sliding towards the tip, both girls gripped their hilts as hard as they could. In that instant, the drop fell into the lake below and both girls charged toward the halfway point as fast as you could blink an eye.

Cinder's plan was going perfectly. Lucy let out a loud battle cry, same sadistic smile as well, until their blades met. The second sparks flew, the albino felt an instant pain in her side and stomach, her grin disappearing and feeling a slight fear. Adding to that fear was Cinder's smug look. The girl looked down to see, aside from the shredded remains of the white gardening glove, was a black arm piercing into her body.

She heard Cinder exhale confidently. "It seems it's already over, and you've met your invincible fighter."

Lucy kept her eyes on the arm as she felt a trail of blood ooze its way up her esophagus and out the corner of her mouth. She then realized the entire situation. Cinder's fingers pierced her stomach, left right arm, shoulder, rib, and just above the left hip bone. "Grimm?" She thought.

"You see? You're just not worthy to wield such power. I, however, have been destined for greatness, and I _will_ have it." As Cinder said her monologue, she saw Lucy's goggles light up. She could fight it all she wanted, maiden or not, but there was no escape. This was it for-

BOOOM! A loud crash thundered around the two women and a blinding light suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Aahhhh!" Cinder let out a strong cry, grabbing her grimm arm as she pulled it out of Lucy and falling back on her knees. The albino stepped back a bit, placing her left hand over the puncture wound in her stomach. Any normal person would've been worried or at least a little stirred up, but Lucy only had one natural reaction to this: she began to chuckle.

Cinder was still gripping her arm in pain, only to realize that she'd felt this way before, and her anxiety only climbed from there. Not helping was Lucy's sudden joyful reaction to the pain, which graduated from chuckles to straight up laughs.

"Haha…hahahahaha…" The albino laughed. "'worthy'… 'destined for greatness'."

Through her goggles, Lucy looked directly at Cinder, her sadistic grin as big as ever. "I have a question for you, Cinder." Lucy proceeded, Cinder looking aggravated as she knelt on the ground and looked up at the warrior before her.

Lucy reached for her goggles and removed them. Cinder went from aggravated to dead terrified in less than a second.

"What's your definition of 'worthy'?" Lucy asked her.

Cinder couldn't even process the question. She felt petrified by the sight of Lucy's eyes.

Her silver eyes.

* * *

 **Holy mother of God, did this take long. I recall saying how last chapter this was going to be short when in actuality I've reached more than 5,000 words in this chapter alone. It's 12:30 right now so I'm not sure I'm going to make this lengthy. The ending to this chapter is one I've been waiting to do for quite a while because THIS is where Cinder realizes her situation and her self-reflection will begin.**

 **That's all for now guys. Please favorite, follow, and leave a review. I strongly urge all of you to review since I'm always looking for criticism in order to better myself as a writer. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I swear I'll get to work on the next one ASAP.**

 **Hope you're all having a wonderful day, and adios amigos!**


	8. Chapter 8, Bird of Prey

**Chapter 8. Bird of prey**

 **Glad to hear some good things from everybody. A lot of people had loved what I had in mind in terms of Lucy. Now we're going to get into more of Cinder and her arc. I'm not all that good with writing fight scenes, especially because I'm writing this mainly to develop and grow Cinder, but I'm going to try my best with them.**

 **Gabriel and Rachel are also going to get more screen time here. I suggest to my readers that you go back and reread chapter 7 because I put foreshadowing in there that's going to come in handy in this chapter and the next one. Enough Stalling!**

* * *

"All roads are long which lead to one's heart's desire."

-Joseph Conrad

Cinder's human hand was shaking in the grass it stood on. All she could do was slowly process the situation. This girl, a woman she was convinced was a maiden hiding in plain sight, turned out to out to be her greatest fear come to life.

"Ohhhh…I love that face." Lucy began, snapping Cinder out of her trance. "That's the face they all make, right before they die. Y'know, that 'what've I done?' face."

Cinder immediately got up, shrugging off the pain in her grimm arm and readying two glass swords, Lucy's smile still brimming with malice. Both girls charged again, Lucy blocking the first sword and then the second in two strikes. Swords slashed and sparks flew, until Cinder finally got a hit in Lucy's right knee and the girl knelt down. Cinder swung to Lucy's left side, her right hand still holding the sabre, and prepared her swipe at the albino's head. Assured victory, Cinder commanded her right arm to slash and the sword cut through the air towards Lucy's head. Just before the blade could make contact, Lucy raised her left hand, the palm facing Cinder, and a bright flash blanketed the maiden's vision.

In less than a second, she was blind, feeling her sword stop midway while internally panicking that she could see anything. Lucy brought up her arm and allowed her aura to take the hit. The headstrong albino stood up and slashed at Cinder, forcing her body into the water. She resurfaced, wearing an angry expression.

"Ah, and you just took a shower this morning…" Lucy taunted.

Using her levitation, Cinder exploded out of the water, her eye casting a larger flame than ever before. She formed a glass broad sword and plummeted towards Lucy, to which the albino disappeared once she hit the ground and dirt flew everywhere. As the soil began to fall back to the ground, Cinder felt panicked by the absence of her opponent, only to realize Lucy's presence directly behind her. Recalling her fight with Raven, Cinder turned around, her broad sword in front, and blocked a hard kick from Lucy. The force shot her out of the dirt crater and skidded against the dirt path and up against a tree. As Cinder recovered, the silver eyed warrior stood confidently on the brink of the crater.

"Is that all a maiden's chalked up to be?" Lucy asked, taunting her again.

Cinder's eye shot up. She assumed Lucy was a maiden, but she never said it. How could Lucy know what a maiden was?

"You know, there're two triggers to fear, my friend. The first is when a person is placed in a situation they don't know how to get out of. The second is when they're in a familiar bad situation that they couldn't get out of before. Back there, when you stabbed me with those filthy fingers, I gotta admit, that was the first time in years I've felt _any_ kind of fear, 'cause I'd never seen anything like that…and I loved it."

Lucy just kept getting more intimidating and unpredictable. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Cinder thought.

"Tell me, _Cindy_. Which of the two are you feeling now?" Lucy asked.

Hearing that name, however, pushed all of Cinder's fear aside and immediately replaced with anger and irritation. It'd been years since anybody called her that. The maiden stood back up and made another pair of glass swords, both of which she made catch on fire. Lucy only smiled again, extending her sabre out to her side and, suddenly, a beam of light shined along the sword's edge. Each time she moved it, it gave off a light-saber "whirring" sound.

One final time both girls darted for the other, both of Cinder's swords stomped down on Lucy's sabre. That was the first of fifty more slashes to follow. Sparks flew and both girls held their expressions. Once every few hits, Cinder managed to touch Lucy, but the girl wouldn't even flinch. Cinder didn't notice until one of her final strikes that she'd been trying to move around Lucy to get a hit, yet Lucy hadn't moved from her spot. Cinder was literally running in a circle, her damp clothes weighing her down the entire time.

Just before her final attack, Lucy made her sword light up again and swung towards Cinder's blades, both of which cracked and broke upon contact. Realizing and dodging in the nick of time, Cinder rolled over and got back on her feet, Lucy standing there as usual with a confident grin.

"…my turn." The warrior said, darting at Cinder with all her might.

Cinder conjured another sword, prepared to attack Lucy again. Recalling how Raven froze her at the vault, Cinder assumed she could do the same with her grimm arm. Once Lucy got close enough, their swords met, both pushing all their strength onto the other. Seeing an opportunity, Cinder waved her arm across Lucy's feet and managed to freeze them. Lucy saw her plan immediately, as Cinder threw grimm arm towards Lucy again. Lucy didn't even try to dodge, and the explanation came nearly immediately. Cinder aimed her fingers this time at Lucy's right side, primarily her lung and liver, only for them to smash against her aura.

Another instance of fright surged through Cinder. "Crap. What the hell just happened?" She thought.

The maiden looked up, Lucy's eyes glowing right above her grin. "I don't where the hell you came from, but whoever taught you about grimm apparently never taught you about silver eyes. Your arm can't penetrate my aura so long as my eyes are active. And, SPOILER, I'm not even pushing them to my limit."

Another flash of light from her eyes and Cinder became immobilized. Lucy just looked down on the weakened woman, feeling no remorse or pity. If anything, disappointment.

"Well…we had a good run, right, Cindy?" Lucy asked, Cinder barely caring about that name at this point. "But, you'll just come back to cause more trouble, so…sorry. Not really." Lucy readied Sabre, holding it above her left shoulder and ready to swing it in the path leading to Cinder's head. Meanwhile, Cinder readied a fireball in her palms. As Lucy began to swing, Cinder fired the ball parallel to the ground at Lucy, propelling herself at the perfect moment to avoid the blade. Usually, Cinder would've stopped here and returned the attack, but instead she activated her levitation ability and headed back towards Fegefeuer. Lucy grinned again. "I love it when they run."

"I…gotta…get back. I can't stay here." The maiden thought to herself. "Hell, I'd rather take my chances with Ruby or Salem than that maniac."

As she continued, she could see the city limit, even Lucy's boarding house in the distance, the sun now at forty-five degrees from the horizon. That's where her bike still had to have been parked, and anywhere was better than her-

Cinder's entire body became cloaked in darkness, and below her was an immense shadow of a bird. Out of curiosity, though hoping this wall just an illusion, Cinder turned her head to her right. Unfortunately, though not surprising, the image of Lucy flying above her was no illusion. Large dove wings, its white feathers reaching length of kitchen knives to adult human legs, sprouted out of the girl's back. Her sabre was still in her hand.

"Looks like you're in a no-fly zone!" Lucy shouted. "You should land immediately!"

In one swipe, Lucy fired a beam of light headed for the maiden. It was too fast to dodge; it was already on top of her before she could even quicken her pace. Cinder could only hope her aura could survive the hit.

A second later, the beam hit, a blanket of burns covering her aura blinding her again. Just as Cinder began to get her sight back, Lucy tackled the maiden out of the sky and the two began to plummet towards the ground at a sixty-degree angle.

The light beam Lucy used managed to attract attention from the closest members of the city. Michael sat on the stoop, texting his girlfriend, and Gabriel was still asleep in bed. Michael noticed the light, aware of what time it suddenly become. In a lazily manner, he went back inside to retrieve him.

The two girls landed roughly into a barn at the edge of the forest and the city. Lucy got up and noticed they landed in hay, Cinder still trying to recover from being forced through a wooden roof at who-knows how great a velocity. Her aura flickered and then disappeared. How useful were her maiden abilities now? The grimm arm meant nothing, she couldn't make anymore glass weapons, she couldn't even stand up without feeling a writhing pain. Suddenly, her busted ankle from before seemed rather tame to the soreness she felt now.

She was on all fours, the weight of the damp clothes making it impossible for her to even catch her breath. Lucy just paced around, looking at her new prey as if savoring the moment. Behind the two of them, a farmer came to see the carnage, only to realize Lucy was behind it. He recognized her immediately, followed by noticing Cinder. The maiden looked up, their eyes locked in contact, her gaze giving off a sense of distress and practically begging for some kind of help, despite him being a complete stranger. Then the farmer looked at Lucy, her evil grin subtly telling him to make the correct choice. With one final look at Cinder, the farmer turned around and ran off, Cinder's heart sinking at that feeling of helplessness. Others gathered around, yet all kept their distance once one of them shouted, "IT'S LUCY!"

Lucy turned back around to Cinder, her shadow covering the maiden entirely. Cinder just stared at the woman's enormous wings, her malicious expression placed between them.

"A…faunus?" Cinder thought.

"Well, Cindy, looks like this was your final stand. Don't feel bad, though; most people I kill don't get an audience like this." Lucy pointed her thumb in the direction of the civilians outside. "But it still sucks, doesn't it? I bet you expected to die an old woman, warm in bed, in your sleep. Instead, you're gonna die in this disgusting barn while everyone just watches you suffer."

Once putting her sabre back in its sheath, Lucy began raising her arms at her sides. Cinder could move, most likely muster the strength to at least levitate out through the whole in the roof, but she couldn't find any motivation to do so. Everything she's done as of late has only resulted in tragedy. She started this fight with Lucy, and under no circumstances did she ever have a chance to win. After suffering so many defeats, what promise was there that the following day didn't have another disappointment in store?

Lucy faced her palms to the sides of the barn. "This…is my favorite part." The warrior said, light forming out of her palms. She condensed the light and the wooden walls began to catch fire. The horses towards the back nayed in fear as they noticed and recognized the deadly light. Everyone outside backed off even more and Cinder fell out of her trance only to realize the gravity of the situation. Just now, she realized the hay beneath her. She tried to activate her levitation, but Lucy shined another light from her eyes and Cinder became immobilized again. Lucy began closing her arms, not caring to ask Cinder for her last words. To Lucy, Cinder was just another body to add to her pile, another demon to exorcise from the world.

Within the crowd, Michael and Gabriel pushed past people until they reached the front. From a distance, Gabriel noticed, between Lucy's wings, Cinder's petrified expression, and he too felt panicked.

"Looks like Lucy's made her choice already, eh Gabriel?" Michael said to his brother, only to realize Gabriel's disappearance. "Gabriel?"

Lucy's arms were almost completely closed together, the walls of burning light slowly encapsulating Cinder and giving her first-degree burns. Even after all the failure and constant depression in the past few days, she still felt the need to put her arms in front of her face for protection, and, without explanation, she felt a tear slide out of her eye. The walls were so close now and she could feel her hair singing and her burns becoming second-degree.

As Lucy kept going, Cinder closed her eye and let out one last agonizing "Aaaaahhhhh!" before the light walls immediately died. It was quiet for what felt like an eternity before Cinder realized everything had stopped. She regained her bearings, realizing she wasn't dead yet, and looked up to see Lucy being restrained by a large pair of arms putting her in a full nelson, her sadistic grin turned into an aggravated frown.

She turned around and immediately recognized who it was. "Gabriel, let go of me." Lucy said to him.

"Sis, look, she's already beaten. You don't have to do this." Gabriel pleaded.

Lucy's wings surrounded him and light radiated over the young man's body, forcing him to back off as his aura became as hot as an oven burner.

Once he recovered, he pleaded again. "Lucy, c'mon, she's terrified."

Lucy rotated one-hundred-thirty-five degrees to face her brother, her feet still in place. "People don't change, Gabriel, especially someone as powerful as she is. I let Cinder go now, she'll just come back and cause more trouble."

Cinder didn't know what to do. Sitting there like a frightened and crying child was all she knew in that moment. Gabriel was her only ray of light in this moment. The albino then looked back at Cinder, who began to calm down as time progressed. The two made eye contact, both frozen in place, the fire quickly consuming the entire building and the horses in the back continued naying in fear. Realizing the flames were consuming all the hay around her as well, her wet clothes protecting her, Cinder tried activating her ice ability and froze as much of the flames as she could, still sitting in the same position. Within seconds, the barn's fire was put out and the horses calmed down, Cinder's hands shaking all the while.

"Okay, look, you always love fighting, right? Well, you've never fought anyone this strong before, right? I mean, no one's survived this long against you, and I doubt you gave yourself that stomach wound! She could help in keeping the city safe from bandits and criminals."

Lucy looked down at the blood-stained hole in her jacket, the wound completely healed by her aura. Gabriel noted Cinder's ability to put out the fire

"See? She's still strong." Gabriel reasoned, to which Lucy. "Look, even if you don't want a sparring partner, just let her go. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens: she screws up, I'll take the blame, I swear."

After staring at Cinder and forming her own judgement, Lucy approached the young woman.

"Alright, listen up, Cindy." The albino calmly demanded, her wings folding back under her shoulder blades, her jacket torn from them emerging in the first place. "You're the strongest person I've ever fought, and the only person to last this long against me. Hell, you're the first person in years to actually make me afraid in the heat of a fight. So, thanks to my parakeet brother, I'm gonna let you go…BUT…if I hear about you causing anymore trouble…" Lucy turned around, only to turn her head back, looking at Cinder over her shoulder. "I'll burn you to…a _cinder_!"

Cinder felt aggravated again, but only slightly cocked her eyebrows. She felt used to being verbally spat on now.

Smiling, Lucy walked away and through the crowd, everyone backing off in terror as the young woman progressed. As Cinder kept breathing and trying to stop her hands shaking, Gabriel approached her and stuck out his left hand.

"Sorry about that. Lucy…tends to blow things out of proportion." Gabriel reasoned.

After processing after that statement, Cinder looked down and grabbed Gabriel's hand, expecting him to pull back…except he didn't move. Annoyed by his lack of teamwork, Cinder looked up, only to see Gabriel's surprised expression. Her heart sank when she realized she grabbed his hand with her grimm arm.

She pulled it back and stood up on her own, planting the hand firmly in her sweatshirt pouch, and backed off, a fearful expression on her face.

Gabriel noticed this, however. "Wait, don't worry. I've…dealt with my sister. You're not as bad as she is."

Cinder looked at him again, his confident smile earning her trust, and approached him. The crowd just looked on as the two exited the barn, many shocked by Cinder's survival. All these faces focusing on her gave off a claustrophobic feeling. Gabriel led her to his brother, who barely had any reaction at all. They made eye contact once, he gave a nod of respect, and walked away, Gabriel following and motioning Cinder to do the same.

"Hey, can you take off your sweatshirt?" Gabriel asked her, to which she gave him a death glare. "Relax, I just want to make sure the fabric didn't fuse to your skin."

"I…I'm not wearing anything underneath." Cinder replied, Gabriel's face turning as red as a tomato.

"Gha! Sorry! I-I didn't know, I swear!"

Aaaaaaand, Cinder became annoyed again. "Accidents happen, let it go." She thought.

"Where the hell are we going?" Cinder asked.

Michael and Gabriel looked at one another.

"We're not taking her back to our place. I'm _not_ dealing with Lucy." Michael stated.

"Well…I was thinking of that, but first taking her to see Rachel." Gabriel replied, Michael giving an eyebrow-raise response.

Within minutes, the group of three left the scene just before a firetruck and police unit showed up on scene. The farmer gave them the recap, their hearts sinking when he mentioned all this had been done by Lucy. The firefighters' and police's only response was to chalk it up as a broken lantern, though now the farmer would have to move the horses since the walls looked weakened by the heat.

Twenty minutes of walking had passed before the trio had come across St. Oum's Orphanage, Cinder completely puzzled by the sight of the sign.

"What…what are we doing at an orphanage?" Cinder asked.

"The woman who works here is going to help you out. Those burns on your body will take weeks to heal from aura, but she can fix you up in a jiffy." Gabriel reassured.

On the other side of the doors, the boy Jack was playing with the girl Tera, no other kids around, with a yellow ball with a blue stripe and a red star. They sat down and rolled to each other, no words being exchanged, to the right side of the room by the couches, flat screen, and coffee table. To the left was an empty space with a toy chest, still locked, pushed against the wall. At the center back of the room was a desk, an elderly woman sitting behind it with a title card reading "Rachel Nephilim", with two hallways branching to the sides.

The front door opened and the trio of adults walked through, catching the eyes of the children and Rachel. Jack saw the brothers, gleeful to see Gabriel and not caring for Michael, but became dumbfounded upon seeing Cinder, specifically her right side. He couldn't understand why, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Tera noticed all of this and threw the ball as hard as she could at Jack's head, provoking him and placing all focus on her as planned.

Cinder noticed the children's bickering yet kept moving toward the desk with the twins.

"Oh, Gabriel. What brings you-" Rachel stopped herself, Cinder taking all of her focus. "-uh…something I can help you all with?"

"Yeah, this is Cinder." Gabriel replied, pointing at a quiet Cinder. "She…had a confrontation with Lucy." Rachel's eyes widened. "But! Lucy let her go, and we kinda want you to heal her."

Cinder and Rachel shared the same expression of confusion, but not for the same reason.

"Lucy…spared someone?" Rachel thought.

"Why is this idiot helping me?" Cinder thought.

Ten minutes later, the four adults were in the orphanage's infirmary, with Cinder laying down on the infirmary bed. She still wore her sweatshirt, rolling up the sleeve to show skin that partially fused with the fabric, but her back and torso were fine. Her bare legs, however, took the brunt of the radiation, the burns standing out on her outer thighs and calves and some of the denim from the shorts also slightly fused to her. After pulling the clothes free from Cinder's skin, Rachel held her hands over the maiden, the burns on her body healing near immediately. The pain subsided and flesh grew back, leaving scars in place of the burns.

"You have a healing semblance?" Cinder asked.

"Kind of. My semblance gives me the ability to multiply cells at almost fifty times the normal speed. It'll take a while for the nerves to come back to life, but you _should_ be able to at least sleep without feeling pain."

Cinder then realized she may not have a place to sleep tonight, considering she just tried to kill her "roommate" half-an-hour ago. This reminded Cinder of another question.

"Hey, by the way," Cinder continued. "Do the both of you have wings?" Michael and Gabriel looked shocked in that instant, Rachel feeling like her heart just stopped. "I mean, if Lucy's your sister, then…look, are you three some kind of bird faunas?"

The two brothers looked at Rachel, who gave a reluctant nod.

"Yeah, but we're not called bird. We're technically called 'Angel faunas'." Michael answered. "None of that matters, though."

"It does matter! Why haven't I seen any faunas like you before? The last time I saw someone like you was a rooster faunas and he had feathers all over his arms. Hell, I've seen hawk, pigeon, even penguin faunas before, but 'Angel faunas'? I've _never_ heard of this before!" Cinder stated, almost sounding panicked.

"Okay, look, almost all faunas you meet will be different to some degree, and they are who they are. Are we done yet?" Rachel said, a more serious tone this time.

Out the corner of Cinder's eye, she noticed movement by the door. She turned her head and a pair of small hands left and the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard in the hallway. The others heard it too, so Rachel left to investigate.

"…so where'd you come from?" Michael asked.

Cinder only told them to not worry about it, to which Michael threw up one arm and left the room.

"Don't mind Michael, he's always trying to look cool in front of everybody. We're originally from Vacuo, used to have a big family over there. Our parents have long since passed away, but they used to own this big dust company and we were like royalty over there."

"Then why leave?" Cinder asked.

"…after what happened to our family, the Schnee dust company took over everything our family had. After about two years, Rachel had gotten transferred to here, y'know the refinery at the base of the mountain, and she brought me and my siblings with her. Once she got here, though, she made friends with the previous orphanage owner, but he passed away as well, so she quit her job at the refinery and became the new owner."

Cinder was trying to process all of that. "Wait…she went from working in a refinery…to an orphanage?"

"Yeah…I know it's strange, but back in Vacuo, before our parents died, she was basically our caregiver. Hell, she delivered all three of us on our birthdays, and she's been a part of our lives ever since. When the original owner passed away, she felt bad for all the kids who already lived here, so she applied for the job right away and raised us here as well. In a way…Rachel's the closest thing to a mother we've ever had."

Cinder felt her heart skip. She felt she needed to reply to that but didn't know where to start.

Meanwhile, Rachel was scolding Jack. "Promise me you're not going to spy on us again, Jack." The boy simply nodded, to which Rachel ran her fingers through his black hair in comfort. Suddenly she heard the doorbell and walked in its direction. Jack, however, stayed behind and headed towards the infirmary.

He stood by the frame, making sure to stay out of Cinder's sight.

"My mother actually died of illness when I was two. I can't even remember what she looks like. I got to admit…I envy you." Cinder told him.

She looked at Gabriel, a mix of exhaustion and sympathy in her gaze…and Gabriel found it beautiful. Before either of them knew it, they had a visitor slowly approaching them.

"Why did you help me? No one else bothered, so why?" Cinder asked.

"…I don't like killing. Lucy's made a habit of killing people she considers dangerous. She keeps saying how people don't change and that she's some kind of 'necessary evil', killing anyone who poses a threat to the civilians here in Fegefeuer."

"She got a funny way of showing it."

"Rachel, Michael, and I have called her out on it before, but over the years she just kept getting stronger, and when she awakened her silver eyes for the first time…let's just say that was the first time I've ever seen Rachel show fear. Even the police are scared of her, hence why she's still walking around without an arrest warrant."

Before either of them knew it, their visitor had arrived at Cinder's bed. Cinder first noticed him, but Gabriel made it verbal.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" Gabriel asked.

The boy faced Cinder but said nothing. He just kept looking at her, giving Cinder an uncomfortable feeling.

"Cinder! There's someone here to see you!" Rachel shouted from the door.

Surprised by the sudden outburst, Gabriel and Cinder got up from the bed and headed for the door. Gabriel grabbed Jack's hand, to which the boy grabbed back but also reached for the bottom of Cinder's jean shorts. Cinder didn't even care at this point. It was then that he noticed Cinder's grimm arm and he only had one reaction.

"Whoa…cool!" He said, Cinder surprised by his lack of fear.

As they continued down the corridor and into the foyer, a tiger faunas stood in the front door, waiting to make his acquaintance with Cinder. Once she arrived, they locked eyes and his lit up. He approached her, hat off and hand extended.

"Cinder…you…" The man tried hard not to tear up. "It took a little while of asking around, and after hearing what happened at the barn, I found out you were here. I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Cinder felt confused yet interested. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"No, I'm afraid not." He answered. "However, your father was a great friend of mine."

* * *

 **Hopefully I can stay on schedule this time. I wrote this whole chapter in just a few days (literally yesterday and today. It's 11:30PM as I'm writing this final part.)**

 **If I had to be honest, the characters of Cinder, Pyrrha, and Qrow are hands down my favorite characters. Once again, I'm not really a fan of the show, but these characters all have qualities that I can at least latch onto. I know they're bringing Cinder back in V6, hopefully they take her character in a direction similar to this one.**

 **For the record, I'm writing this story as I go, and its main purpose is to showcase a character arc for Cinder. However, I never shy away from criticism and I'm always listening to critics in order to better myself, so as always:**

 **Follow, favorite, leave a review (negatives before positives) and, most importantly, have a great day!**


	9. Chapter 9, Hero

**Chapter 9. Hero**

 **Well, last chapter was one I had been waiting for for quite a while, introducing the characters of Jack and Tera, the tiger faunas, and Lucy's true personality. Cinder is on her way to becoming a different person, all the while affecting the lives of those around her. Meanwhile, Ruby is going to start training with her eyes now, while Weiss will be talking things out with her family. As for Adam…I doubt he'll ever get a character arc in the show and, in my opinion, he really doesn't deserve one. Also, despite all the Rwby characters being based on characters from fairy tales, mythology, books, and real people, the tiger faunas and the characters of Gus and Scotty I made up doesn't have any resemblance to anyone. They're here for mainly one purpose but I'll try to make them a bit more relevant as the plot continues.**

 **I'm also going to say the pacing is going to get wonky come the midway point, but it's my attempt at balancing two plotlines simultaneously. This is my first attempt at trying something of that caliber and I'm always trying to learn to better myself.**

 **Got paid this week, so that's great! Hopefully I won't spend it unwisely (a habit of mine that needs to die), 'cause, y'know, who needs food or gas? I know this is a day late, but I'm still busy with the last few weeks of my internship and I want to get this fanfic done before the school year begins. I'm also exhausted as I'm writing this as it's yet again right before midnight as I'm uploading this, which is why there won't be an ending monologue.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy, can't wait to hear your thoughts.**

* * *

Time seemed to have stopped. With Michael already gone home, this left just the four adults standing in the foyer, Jack staring off into space all the while. Cinder and Gabriel were equally stunned by the man's words, but not Rachel. To her, this only confirmed her suspicion. Cinder was the first to break silence.

"You…knew my father?" She asked.

"Yes. About fifteen years ago, before…what happened…I was a member of the executive board. My name's Audwine Streifen, and I was the former Chief Financial Officer to your father's dust company…back when the city was named 'Empyrean'."

Cinder felt dumbfounded. The thought of his company actually slipped her mind the entire day. First, she cheats death from the first "friend" she ever made her, now she had someone telling her he used to know her father? How could _anyone_ take this in so quickly.

"Wait, how did you know it was me?" Cinder asked.

Audwine sighed. "Honestly, I didn't know. As the CFO, however, your father was a good friend of mine. Hell, I even knew your mother when she was pregnant with you." Cinder felt her heart skip a beat. Never in her life did she ever expect to hear such a sentence. "You…have mother's curly hair…and your father's amber eyes."

The man appeared to hold back tears again. Cinder began to feel an odd sinking in her heart, wondering its cause while listening closely to the faunas before her.

"Anyway, I'm here to make you a proposition. I'm glad to see you after all these years, and that you're okay…" Cinder looked down upon hearing that, noticing Jack was still holding onto her shorts. "…and I don't know why you're here in the city, but, assuming you're here to stay, I was wondering if you needed a job."

All three of the adults looked at the faunas, his truthful gaze within the stripes on his cheeks attracting their attention.

"You…want me to work for you?" Cinder asked, her hopes levitating and Rachel smiling.

"Yes. Since tomorrow's Monday and the payroll's next week, I figured you could start then. Granted, I work as a project manager now, but the city's motto asks for 'all you weary' so it'd be a crime not to give you a chance."

The sincerity in his voice pulled her in. Cinder's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Were things truly starting to look up?

"Um. I…I've got nowhere else to go…" Cinder said, a sliver of optimism in her tone.

"Splendid! I can show up at your residence tomorrow morning! Please, give me your address!"

As the man took out a notepad, Cinder's optimism died just as fast. She was sleeping on Lucy's couch this morning, but that didn't seem to be happening again anytime soon.

"I…uh…can I…-" She began before Rachel intervened.

"Audwine, can you give us a second." She said, to which the man nodded, headed to his car outside, and waited patiently, keeping his hat on and head down to avoid detection from any bystanders.

"You don't have anywhere to stay, do you?" Rachel asked, Cinder turning away from them in anger.

"I _was_ sleeping on Lucy's couch…then…I tried to fight her." The maiden answered.

Rachel and Gabriel's eyes grew in shock, and Gabriel was the first to speak. "Guess that explains why she almost killed you. Why did you do that?"

Cinder recalled the maidens. "…It doesn't matter. She won, and I-"

She then noticed Jack still hanging onto her, shaking him off in anger. The boy walked backwards, catching his balance and getting a bad look from Rachel.

Before Cinder could continue, Rachel intervened. "Get out." Gabriel and Cinder looked at her. "I want no business with someone who won't show respect. You still want Audwine's offer, fine, but you'll get no shelter from me."

While Cinder looked even more aggravated, Gabriel stepped up. "Wait! Maybe, you can sleep on _my_ couch." Now both eyes were on him, Jack's as well.

"Gabriel! What are you thinking?" Rachel asked, to which the large man approached her to whisper his answer.

"Look, I know she can be annoying, but deep down I feel like she just needs a chance. You always told us, growing up, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you', right?"

Rachel sighed. "Remember, Lucy's right across the hall from us. If she tries anything, Lucy'll take care of it. It'll only be until she gets her own place."

Rachel took one last look at Cinder, the aggravated look replaced with her simply staring out the window followed by Jack running back up and grabbing her jean shorts again.

Rachel stepped forward to the maiden, her stare now replaced with stoicism. "Gabriel's giving you shelter. Be on your best behavior…" Cinder began to look aggravated again. "…and I _might_ fix that eye of yours."

All the aggravation became shock and intrigue. Even Cinder forgot about the eye hidden underneath her hair. "Y-You mean can fix this?! I can get my eye back?!"

"That depends: is your eyeball still there?"

Cinder's heart sank again. "…no. The people who treated me after I lost it had to dig it out of my socket. Said there was barely anything left of it."

Rachel exhaled. "Well, I think I can at least help in helping the scar fade, maybe smooth out the skin. Either way, until I hear Gabriel telling me you're safe to be around, I don't want you anywhere near me nor this orphanage. Am I understood?"

Cinder balled her fist in anger, only to have a familiar feeling of Salem after processing that last sentence. "Understood." She said, reluctantly. Gabriel smiled and Rachel remained stoic.

"Understood!" Jack shouted, his hand at a soldier's salute. Gabriel laughed, Rachel smiled, and Cinder sighed followed by an eye roll.

Rachel stepped outside and motioned for Audwine to come back. Cinder shook his hand and he said he'd return around 7AM then next morning.

Twenty minutes passed until they reached Gabriel's apartment.

"Okay, we have some blankets in the closet; we're gonna have dinner at six; there's always stuff in the fridge and cabinets…"

Cinder lost interest in the boy's rambling. At this point, all she cared about was the couch he mentioned earlier and hopes an apartment owned by two young men wasn't as bad as Lucy's, the smell taking top priority.

As Gabriel approached the door with his key, Cinder noticed a bucket of water outside Lucy's door…with a note reading "Cinder." Cinder approached the bucket and saw something in the water. She reached in and pulled out her pair of high heels wrapped up in her black glove. Gabriel watched in caution as Cinder's eye caught fire again.

"Okay, okay. They can dry off. Let's just get inside." Gabriel reasoned, Cinder still holding onto her anger as she followed him.

Thankfully, Gabriel opened the door and the scent of lemons poured out into the hallway. Cinder's eye flame immediately died the second the door opened. The two entered the living room and Cinder felt like she entered a dream: the carpet was a perfect shade of brown, the walls and furniture were clean, and the lemon scent…enough said. It was the same layout as Lucy's apartment but mirrored. The kitchen was now to the left of the door, the same window opening between that and the living room, except the couch was beneath the opening and the TV was against the wall. No coffee table, however.

Michael sat in his room, alone with Melanie, while Gabriel and Cinder sat in front of the TV and ate pizza that Gabriel ordered. Most of the time, there was no conversation. Cinder was never one to show gratitude, and Gabriel quickly caught onto that. They continued watching random shows until the clock struck ten.

"Well, hope you liked the pizza." Gabriel said, gathering the paper plates for the garbage can and the remaining slices for the fridge, Cinder not making a sound. Five minutes later, Gabriel turned out the kitchen light and prepared for a goodnight's rest.

He looked at Cinder. "The, uh, blankets are underneath the couch. Cushions should work for pillows…"

His kindness was only met with more silence from the maiden. The man had given up, until he heard a faint, "Thank you" coming from Cinder. He hid his smile and walked to his room.

Even Cinder felt weird saying it. Trying to shake it off, Cinder grabbed an afghan from underneath the couch and leaned her head against a large cushion, drifting off into a deep slumber.

* * *

It was 6:30 in the morning and young girl could hear someone knocking on the door. A tall man stood outside in the hallway, knocking and whispering for the girl's name.

"Ruby? Ruby, are you awake?" The man asked.

The young girl rose from her bed, her hair a mess and breath wreaking, and realized the situation. Quick as a flash and careful not to disturb Weiss, she got up from the bed and sprinted to the door, opening it to reveal general Ironwood.

"Get dressed. Ozpin's waiting for us at the training ground." The tin man ordered.

"Mhmm…already?" Ruby complained.

"You're the one who wanted to learn how to utilize her eyes, correct? Get downstairs to the foyer and we'll begin your training."

Fifteen minutes later, Ruby was dressed with her scythe holstered and ready to begin.

"So…how long is all of this going to take? Like a week, right?" Ruby asked, reluctantly yet hopeful.

"I don't know. They're _your_ eyes, so it'll take as long as you need." The general replied.

"…Two weeks?"

"Depending on your ability to learn, I could care less if it takes months." Ruby's jaw dropped in stress. "Regardless, we're not wasting a single moment. We've already placed the relic in its new vault, and if your eyes can help in our defense against Salem, then _you're_ top priority."

* * *

Cinder had on a pair of Gabriel's jeans that had the cuffs rolled u, and a belt that latched onto its final hole. Thankfully, Lucy never knocked on the door asking for her tennis shoes back, otherwise Cinder might have had to be using boots that resembled clown shoes. Aside from that, she wore the same sweatshirt as before and now had the black glove on her other arm. She stood outside on the boarding house's stoop, waiting for Audwine to arrive, and 7:00 AM on the dot he arrived. Pulling up in his car and opening the passenger door for her, the two began the drive to the dust mine.

"You, uh, comfortable?" He asked, getting a weird gaze from Cinder. "It's just that…your clothing looks…uncomfortable."

"If I'm working in the mines, I can't wear jean shorts. I just want to get started, okay?"

"Well, good thing I thought ahead and brought these." He showed her a pair of mining boots.

Cinder reluctantly put them on, her only verbal response being a pessimistic, "Right…"

With impatience pouring out of her tone, Audwine shifted the car into drive and within a half-hour, the two had reached a parking lot underneath the mountain. Built within the large structure was the office building combined with a refinery, and on the refinery's wall was the crest of the Schnee Dust Company.

"We're here!" Audwine said, smiling at Cinder, though not getting any response from her.

The two exited the car and began walking towards the massive crowd of workers. To the far east, there was another crowd of workers, all of whom had animal features on their bodies.

"So…is that like a separate division?" Cinder asked.

"Not exactly…all of those workers are faunas, and, after the passing of your father, prejudices have increased since. Jacque Schnee bought the company from us soon after Solar's death and transferred most of his faunas workers down here from Atlas."

The two made their way into the office building, the crowd of faunas giving off death stares. Audwine filled out her paperwork and gave her a hardhat. Within an hour, they had taken a ride down the diagonal elevator and were down in the mine, human and faunas miners pushing carts and crates holding dust crystals. Most were conversing, talking about their kids' birthdays or their anniversaries. One guy going off about how upset he was that his favorite sports team lost.

They reached the end of the mine and entered a large space with catwalks and workers loading and pushing dust carts along the rails. Audwine led Cinder to two large men, probably in their forties, pulling out dust.

"Scotty, Gus! I brought you boys a new friend!" Audwine announced to them.

The two men turned around, their faces lighting up at seeing Cinder and extending their hands to shake hers.

"Pleased to meet ya', little lady. I'm scotty." The larger man in a white shirt, overalls, and blonde beard and moustache said.

"Same here. I'm Gus!" The slimmer man with a clean-shaven face said, his eyebrows showing his hair to be dark brown.

"C-Cinder…" She said, though not reluctantly.

Cinder felt safe, their smiles providing a comforting jubilation.

"Well, Cinder, our job is mining through the earth for dust crystals and minerals, and packing 'em into these carts. Just push 'em up the rail to the guys upstairs until the whistle blows at the end of the day!" Scotty explained.

All said and done, Audwine went back upstairs and Scotty and Gus filled the cart to the brim with blue dust. Now it was Cinder's turn. The men offered to help her, but she declined and, using her aura, pushed the cart up at a twenty-degree angle towards the center of the space. She moved it into a group of other full carts and noticed a few empty ones. As another worker took a full cart away, Cinder grabbed an empty one and brought it back down to Scotty and Gus.

"Not the _worst_ job I've ever had." She thought to herself.

* * *

Inhale. Exhale. Remember the good time, then the bad. Earlier that day, Ruby sat in the middle of a sparring ring, similar to the one at Beacon, a perfect circle surrounded by twelve knights, evenly spaced between each other.

"So…uh…what would you like me to do?" Ruby asked.

"We've determined your eyes trigger their abilities only when you're under some form of stress." Ozpin answered, fifteen meters ahead of Ruby. "This may sound a bit too much to ask, Miss Rose, but you'll need to recall one of the times you've triggered them."

Ruby _did_ recall such a time, one she hoped would stay buried in the recesses of her mind. As she tried to reach into such recesses, an image of a smiling Pyrrha took full screen on her closed eyelids, and they began to overflow.

"I…I can't…" Ruby said, her voice cracking.

"Miss Rose, I understand this is painful for you, however, if we're going to figure out the pattern to its trigger, we'll need you to revisit unpleasant places." Ozpin assured.

Ruby looked down at her crisscrossed legs and tried again. From the food fight between teams RWBY and JNPR, to their time at the Vytal Festival, and finally at the deaths of Penny and Pyrrha. Her eyes couldn't take much more. Soon, they overflowed, and, behind the tightened and twitching eyelids, a glow was born and tried to push through.

Ruby could feel it and instinctively opened her eyes, killing the glow altogether.

Ironwood stood next to Ozpin. "Well, that's a start. At least our hypothesis was correct in that it _is_ connected to stress, but can she use it without relying on feelings?"

"Well, that's all part of the journey. I have a few theories on how she can control it and we'll work at it every day. We'll take notes on everything she does, and, hopefully, she'll be the key to bringing Salem down once and for all."

"Oz…" Oscar called out to the man. "…Can I have my body back? You've been in control all day now.

* * *

The Monday Cinder came home, she felt exhausted and laid on Gabriel's couch, passing out almost immediately. "Guess…this is my life now." She thought. When he tried to wake her up for dinner, he was only greeted with her grabbing his hand and showing off her flaming eye, to which he slowly backed up and allowed the maiden to fall into a deep slumber.

Ruby crawled back into bed that night at around 8PM, all 6 of her teammates playing video games and Spin the bottle. She tried to go to sleep, until Yang opened a bag of chocolate chip cookies and the young silver-eyed-girl used her semblance to grab it and sprint out the door.

The next day wasn't as bad. Cinder got used to pushing the cart and the comedic banter between Scotty and Gus caught her ear, but she did nothing in response besides continue her job.

Come that day's afternoon, Ruby had gotten used to seeing Pyrrha vaporize in her mind. Did this mean she no longer cared for her friend's death? No, that couldn't be it. Did finally accept it? Well, there was no denying it nor hoping she would just walk through the door, unscathed, like it never happened. She had to accept it. She sat there in total silence expecting nothing but this string of thoughts to continue…until she felt her eyes glowing again. She opened them, and they remained glowing for a few seconds before going out again. Ozpin found this intriguing and told her to repeat the process.

Wednesday went about as well as the day before. Cinder managed to push more carts than any of the other miners, getting the company ahead of schedule. This time, however, Gus mentioned his single son and how he'd wish "that boy met a girl like her". Cinder intervened, asking what Gus meant by that. The man simply replied that she was a hard worker, had good looks, and a quiet personality; something, he claimed, "would make any guy happy." Cinder blushed but quickly moved on, continuing the day by herself. Once coming home, Gabriel was already on her couch. When he noticed her and prepared to move, Cinder didn't stop him but didn't feel any reason to ask him to stay. It was his decision.

This day, Ruby finally accepted what Cinder did. Now that she was dead too, hopefully this meant Pyrrha truly was avenged. Even then, what good was vengeance if evil still existed in the form of Salem. She believed that that was her greatest fear, the existence of an unstoppable evil and none of her friends were safe. However, the least she could do is be there for everyone; stay strong for their sake and protect what Pyrrha held so dear.

Thursday was born, beginning with Cinder waiting on the stoop in anticipation. For once, she actually _wanted_ to go to work. Today, however, had her digging deeper into the mines with Scotty pushing the cart up the rail. Gus asked Cinder where she was from, to which she decided to keep it a secret. Gus told her he was from the city and raised his family in Fegefeuer, and that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. This only made Cinder question the city's reputation. Did all come from Lucy's reputation as a powerful killer? Later that day, Cinder came back to Gabriel's at the usual time only to find a note on her couch that read "Movie night - I'll be working late – pasta and Ice Cream in the fridge".

Ruby, with full acceptance of Pyrrha's and Penny's death and knowing who she had left, managed to keep her eyes glowing. The girl stood up and tried her semblance. With one push off her heel, she moved faster than ever, made apparent when she smacked face-first into a pillar. Ozpin and Ironwood looked away, practically feeling the pain.

* * *

Friday was here. Ruby trained in Atlas yet made no progress in controlling her eyes for more than ten seconds. Cinder, however, didn't know if she should feel ecstatic to sleep in, or depressed that this meant spending two days on Gabriel's couch, possibly forced to converse with him. The day went on as always, Audwine making jokes about the weekend and presumably going into the bars to spend all his money. If not that, then spending time with his son at the bars and spending all of his money instead. The day was no different than before. Just Scotty and Gus being there usual upbeat selves. Seeing them being grateful and cracking jokes, especially ones intended to make her laugh.

"And then I tell him, 'Did you know round hay bales are becoming illegal? S'cause they're not giving the cattle a _square_ meal.' And he couldn't stop laughing." Gus joked, Scotty laughing along and Cinder cringing at the horrific dad joke.

BLAM! The ground shook and the lights above danced as they flickered. Screaming was instantly heard further back in the intersection of the mine halls. The three workers ran up to see the commotion to see most of the workers all staring at the same cave.

"What happened?!" Scotty yelled.

"We don't know. This cave was filled with red dust, so we think someone may have caused an explosion." A random worker said.

"Has anyone gone down there yet?"

"What, are you crazy? The cave might collapse with us down there. Besides, it's just faunas. Who cares if we lose them?"

Before anyone realized it, Gus was already pushing through the crowd and into the cave.

"Gus! Don't!" Scotty yelled to his friend, Cinder staring in shock, wondering what was going to happen next.

BLAM! Another explosion, this one closer to them. As the reached the end of the cave, they found a goat faunas, male in his fifties, half buried in the rubble and out cold. Beside him was an arm emerging from the rubble. Gus made a grab for the arm and began digging his way towards the body, hoping its owner hadn't suffocated under the debris. With a few strong heaves and pulls, he eventually got the man out just as another explosion could be heard behind the rocks, quaking the ground and walls around them. Realizing he had no time to save both, Gus made the next logical decision.

"Help! Someone, come down here! Anyone!" He shouted.

The people above could hear him, yet no one responded immediately.

"Who-Who's going down there?" A random miner asked.

"I got kids! I can't go down there!" Another miner answered.

Kids. Cinder recalled, along with a plethora of memories from her childhood, Gus saying he had son. Without even thinking, Cinder took one step closer to the cave as her coworkers continued bickering. She continued approaching until she could hear his voice crying out again and rushed down.

"CINDER! DON-" Scotty shouted, only to be interrupted by another explosion and a little wall dust falling from the ceiling several stories above.

"Scotty, c'mon we need to leave!" A miner yelled at him.

"Not until they get out of there!" He shouted back.

Cinder continued down into the cave until she could no longer see, relying on Gus's shouting for direction. She created a flame in her hand and continued further down. For what was only four seconds, yet felt like an eternity, she found Gus making his way upward towards her, pulling the goat faunas with his left arm around the waist and the second miner, a human male presumably in her thirties, being pulled by the wrist in Gus's right hand. He still had his flashlight strapped to his hardhat, yet it flickered from time to time.

"Cinder! Thank Gods you're here! Here, take the girl in my left arm! This cave could collapse any minute!" Gus shouted.

Cinder obeyed and took the woman onto her shoulders, a faint breathing escaping her lips but blood trickling down from her right crown. With nothing holding them back, the two miners rushed upwards toward the exit, waiting in anticipation for when the entrance hole would appear.

BLAM! Another explosion, this time from their rear-right side. Gus managed to keep going but Cinder fell down from the force. Gus stopped to make sure she was alright, but as she got up, debris fell behind them and Cinder looked back. Gus shouted her name, but to no avail; the girl was stuck in a trance.

Spilling out of the debris were flames of red which spread to the walls and the crystals within them as well began to volatize. Cinder's mind was trapped, all her attention focusing on the image of the barn, when Lucy cornered her on top of the hay and nearly set the entire structure ablaze, all with a sadistic grin on her face. All she could see was the albino demon standing in front of the seeping flames in the debris, only to be woken up by a hard tug of her hair.

"SNAP OUT OF IT! WE NEED TO LEAVE!" Gus shouted at her.

Once realizing the circumstance, Cinder grabbed the miner and sprinted upwards until they saw the entrance.

BLAM! Another explosion erupted the walls and sent all four miners falling face first. The ceiling above was cracking, sending fearful chills down their spines. The floor they stood on was to shaky to walk on, the ceiling and walls were caving in, and they still had the two unconscious miners laying on top of both of them. More crystals around them began to volatize and glow a Hellish red.

Cinder looked into Gus's eyes, ones overflowing with fear and despair. He looked into hers, expecting the same, yet surprised to see her eye go from despair to angry to…glowing?

The memory of her father's slaughter; the memory of Ruby Rose cutting off her arm and blasting her left eye with her scythe; Raven pushing her off the side of the maiden vault platform and freezing her solid. She hated all of it; the despair and helplessness. She'd had it.

"No! Not…AGAIN!" The thoughts roared in her mind as the dust crystals began to ignite.

BOOM! A cloud of red and black smoke poured out of the cave and the sound of falling rocks deep down left a foreboding atmosphere in the remaining workers at the cave entrance. Scotty went from standing in despair to falling on his knees in depression. Was a young woman and his friend truly dead? All for nothing? All for what could only be chalked up as a mining accident in the newspaper?

Suddenly, a claw emerged from the cave and planted its razor-sharp talons into the solid mine floor, startling Scotty and pushing him back on his butt. He recognized the claw almost immediately.

"Grimm?" He thought.

The rubble began to shift further down in the cave and emerging from it was a sphere of aura and Cinder at the center of it. She wore a face that perfectly mixed anger and determination while Gus wore one of confusion, more in that they weren't dead.

Though he didn't realize it, Cinder actually had her grimm arm wrapped around his waist, and she forced the both of them through the debris. With the last of the volatile crystals glowing and preparing to detonate, Cinder placed her body closer to his and, with one strong pull of her arm, slingshot all four of them up to the exit.

They all landed out of the explosion's radius, Cinder landing at Scotty's feet. Everyone was quick to grab Gus and the two workers yet were hesitant to grab Cinder, who got up to see a crowd of confused and fearful eyes upon her.

More explosions could be heard deep down in the cave, cuing everyone's time to leave. Within minutes, all the workers made it to the elevator and reached the surface.

No one spoke for minutes on end. Two pairs of miners were busy giving CPR to the two victims and Gus was being examined by Scotty. Cinder laid back against the elevator, feeling more shaken up than ever before, while everyone else waited silently in their respective coworker circles. Why did she just run into the cave, especially impulsively? What were two strangers' lives to her? Once both men were resuscitated, an argument immediately ignited.

"You damn mongrel! I told you and your damned friend to be careful with those crystals! Now looked what happ-" The human miner shouted at the faunas miner, stopping upon feeling the pain from the chest compressions.

"You saying it's our fault?! My friend died back there and _this_ is how you honor his death?!" The goat faunas yelled in anger, trying to stay still as to not repeat the human miner's pain.

A few seconds later, sides were visible between human and faunas miners. Just as things appeared to become a brawl, Cinder stepped forward.

"Alright! Break it up!" She shouted, all miners' eyes focused on her now. "Gods, you're all so annoying. I don't need to hear grown men and women fighting like little kids on the playground, especially after almost getting crushed and suffocated at the same damn time!"

She may as well have stopped speaking altogether, however, as all the workers looked beneath her face in shock. Cinder looked down only for her eye to widen at the exposed grimm arm. She looked back at the crowd of workers, covering her arm and hiding it, as they all backed off in fear. Any optimism in Cinder's being was now dying. This had to be it; she was screwed. She'd be fired and probably be forced to find work somewhere else, provided rumors didn't spread like wildfire. Even Fegefeuer was no longer available.

Just as the crowd began to back up and Cinder felt only despair, Gus emerged from the crowd, his right hand holding his ribs, and approached the young woman. Their eyes met, Gus's calmer yet had a sense of superiority as opposed to Cinder's sense of inferiority.

Gabriel then turned to the crowd. "Y'know, when I was her age, this town used to be so peaceful and everyone got along. Now we're all fighting and acting racist in front of a young woman who put herself in danger to save a human _and_ a faunas."

Gus looked towards Cinder again and raised his hand to her at waist level, fingers extended and palm visible. Cinder could only feel surprise.

"Thank you." Gus said to her, the miners behind him unable to take their eyes off of the situation. "Now…I can go home and give my son _another_ reason why any guy'd be lucky to have you."

Cinder blushed upon hearing that. She looked back at his hand and raised her grimm arm to shake it. The crowd then began to surround the duo, the two injured miners watching from a distance, then looked back at each other with regret in both of their expressions. Clapping from Scotty could be heard in the back of the crowd, and within seconds, everyone shared in this new atmosphere of optimism with a symphony of clapping and whistles.

She couldn't help but look back on the crowd of miners all facing her with compassion in all their eyes. For the first time in years, Cinder felt, not satisfied nor pleased nor anything of the sort, but happiness. Genuine happiness.


	10. Chapter 10, Choice and Destiny

**Chapter 10. Choice and Destiny**

 **Hey guys, hope you all had a great week. I'm wrapping up the last of my internship projects, especially since this upcoming week is my last one (farewell, large paychecks ;_;). More of Cinder's arc is going to be explored while, possibly, introducing more of the characters from the other sides. One reviewer said they hoped for certain characters to meet up in this story, and I** _ **do**_ **have an idea planned for that, but this story's only a fanfiction. I have other projects I want to get started on before school begins, mainly my novel. This chapter might feel** _ **more**_ **like a fanfiction than anything thus far, only because I want to establish certain relationships (not all romantic) to be utilized later.**

 **Hope everyone enjoys where the story's going and I'll try to prevent these chapters from exceeding 5,000 words like the previous few were.**

* * *

The ambulance's sirens blared down the main road, far from the dust mines. Cinder was in the office building alone with Scotty, who had a live news coverage pulled up on his scroll.

"Well, looks like you and Gus are getting your names on plaques." Scotty said.

Cinder, however, felt frightened by that claim. The police _still_ had to be on the lookout for her since the attack on Haven academy. Perhaps a plaque on the wall was fine, but anything like a picture on the company's website or, Gods forbid, Mistral's news network would've given her away.

"C-Could you excuse me?" She said before darting back outside and to the main entrance. After about five minutes of searching, being careful to avoid the news crew's line-of-sight as they finished setting up, Cinder made it back to the elevator where she found Audwine.

"Audwine!" Cinder shrieked.

"Oh, Cinder, there you are! Come here, let's take a picture by the elev-" The faunas continued before Cinder cut him off.

"NO! I-I mean, look…between you and me, I'd rather keep things a secret." She said, getting a questionable look from her supervisor. "I know that sounds sketchy, but the best way to repay me for saving those miners, honestly, is just to not mention me. Please?"

Her innocence took over her eye and persuaded the tiger faunas, though this _did_ instill suspicion in him.

"…this isn't going to be something that comes back on me, is it?" Audwine asked in a serious tone, as if speaking to his own child.

"No, I swear it won't. It's just that…I'm here, in the city, and…I want to start over." Those words, "start over" came out as an impulse rather than planned. Though she didn't regret saying them.

Trusting the young woman, Audwine stood in front of all the workers who escaped the cave-in as a news crew prepared their equipment outside.

"Listen up! All workers, faunas and human alike!" He called out to the crowd. "I'm grateful everyone's here and we will grieve together for the loss of our worker, Ms. Jane Doe." The goat faunas from earlier sat behind the crowd and began tearing up. "We'll schedule a memorial later this week in her honor. However, I'd like to give a large thank you to our two miners who bravely sprinted into the depths of the cavern and didn't come back empty-handed."

Gus received an orchestra of claps and cheers, only to place a hand up in a "you're too kind" gesture.

"However," he continued, "one of the two miner's, the girl with the weird arm, prefers to remain anonymous. The local news crew is outside, so, for confidential reasons, I request all of you refrain from using her name if you know it or mention her arm. Anyone who breaks these rules will face ramifications!"

No one seemed bothered by that statement, and Cinder, standing far behind him, gave a sigh of relief. Once finished, he approached her again, telling her to wait by his car and that she was dismissed for the day. What could she do now that the cavern was completely buried? Scotty accompanied her, and soon Gus walked alongside Audwine to greet the young maiden. The three men then made a circle to prevent Cinder from hearing until they broke up and Gus approached her.

"You're not going in the ambulance?" She asked the grown man, his left hand still on his torso.

"Nah. It doesn't feel too bad. Even if it's a fractured rib, doctors can't do anything about that. Time's the only healer I need." He replied, wearing his usual smile as always. As Cinder closed her eye in relief, Gus got her attention again with his own question.

"Cinder…you like bourbon?" Gus asked.

Roughly half-an-hour later, now five o'clock, Audwine arrived at Junior's restaurant, wearing his hat to prevent detection.

"I'll come pick you up around ten; I'm gonna take Gus to the doctor on worker's compensation. Keep this girl safe, ya' hear me?" The faunas ordered.

Scotty told him not to worry and Audwine, trusting and satisfied, drove back towards the office building.

Inside the restaurant, Junior managed the bar while the twins, Michael, and several other teenagers walked around with trays of food over their shoulders. Upon entering, Cinder felt more of anticipation as opposed to reluctance from the last time she came here. Seeing Michael reminded her of Gabriel, so she looked around but found no sign of the large man. She felt her heart stop, however, when she made eye contact with a certain albino waitress.

Cinder's hands began to shake, the grimm arm shaking the inside of her sweatshirt pocket, only to stop after receiving an arrogant wink and grin from Lucy as she turned and walked away.

"Hey!" Scotty exclaimed, putting his hand on her shoulder to which she snapped to his attention. "You twenty-one?"

Cinder's eyes widened and she shook her head "no", to which Scotty pulled out his wallet.

"Then this one's on me." He gleefully said.

The two approached the bar, Cinder trailing behind like a lost child, and sat at the stools.

"Hey J! I'd like two bourbons and a beer!" Scotty shouted to Junior.

The large man brought the three drinks and accepted Gus's card. Scotty began sipping some of his bourbon while Cinder simply stared at the slightly filled glass with tanned liquid inside, just as nervous as she was curious.

"Just sip it and let some of it sit on your tongue." Scotty advised.

Cinder stared at the glass, gave one eyebrow raise, placed it to her lips, and felt a burning sensation from her tongue to her throat. Her eye widened and she began coughing.

"'eyyy, how'd you like it?" Scotty asked.

Cinder looked at him, trying to keep her eye from catching fire. "That…was horrible."

"Yeah, but it's your first drink. Once you get used to it, you start to taste the actual stuff." Scotty replied, sipping more of his bourbon without any reaction.

Cinder looked back at her glass and tried again. As she began to sip, she gained a pair of eyes in the glass's relfection that stared at her like a hawk at its prey. She turned around to recognize him to be Michael, though she was met with a very angry expression on the man's face, creating an awkward atmosphere.

"So…you're the one who killed Pyrrha Nikos…" Michael said, a hint of caution yet firmness in his tone.

She felt her heart stop even longer this time at the sudden question. He held up his scroll, revealing the fall of Beacon and how the latest suspicions named her as the one responsible. Cinder was caught, by the brother of her greatest fear nonetheless. Fighting would only lead to more trouble, so she did the only logical thing left to do.

"…I am. But, look, I-" Cinder replied, interrupted by Michael raising his index finger.

"…All I want to know…is why you killed her yet saved everyone down in the cavern."

Cinder paused, trying to select the correct words out of the swarms buzzing around in her mind. It took more than ten seconds before she could finally form a sentence.

"…I don't know." She finally responded, Michael's stoicism not budging in the slightest. "I…back then…all I wanted was power, but she opposed me." She realized how cynical that last sentence was. "…but…just seeing Gus run down into the mine…I couldn't bare it."

Another moment of silence between the two, Michael swiping up on his scroll to look at the cavern story. "…well, that didn't answer anything. Look, judging by you saving him, can I at least expect you to not cause any trouble for as long as you stay here?" Michael asked, Cinder looking up at him with hope. Her mind wandered off to wonder what the consequences would be if she did cause trouble, to which the chilling image of Lucy came to mind.

"Yes. I swear, I won't do anything as long as I'm here." She answered.

"…then we're good." Michael replied, relief surging through the maiden's body. "However, this doesn't excuse what you've done. News networks said you got away from Haven, which means police are still on the lookout for you. I'll talk to the other workers to keep a lid on about you, your arm, your scar, everything, but if Mistral sends an entire battalion just to detain you, I won't stop 'em. We clear?"

Cinder felt a juxtaposition of relief and disappointment. "Clear." Not a hint of resistance or spite was in her tone.

The tall man walked away, but not before Cinder called back to him with a "wait" to ask a question.

"Do you…know where your brother is?" She asked, not certain of why she wanted to know.

Michael felt more anger and distress now than ever before with Cinder. He turned back to her, his eyes and mouth perfectly displaying his emotions.

"Listen to me right now: Stay away from Gabriel." He barked, their faces inches apart and Cinder beginning to mimic his emotions. "It's bad enough we're harboring a criminal, but the last thing we need is getting into trouble with the freakin' kingdom for exactly that. Once you get enough money, I want you out of _my_ apartment! Capiche?"

The silence sat with the friction between the two, Junior and Scotty just now noticing and hoping things wouldn't escalate.

"Capiche." Cinder replied, her angered expression remaining still.

Michael walked off, and Cinder grabbed her glass of bourbon and continued to sip it, ignoring the burning sensation. Scotty looked over to her, impressed by what he took as an increase in tolerance.

As he went back to the kitchen to pick up his next order, Michael reanalyzed what he said. Gabriel mentioned Cinder a few times when she wasn't around, how Cinder "just needs a chance", not bothering to explain if he meant a chance to live on her own or at redemption. He recalled growing up in Saint Oum's orphanage with his siblings, most notably Lucy and her "tantrums". Lucy gained enough blood on her hands over the years to fill a lake. Despite Cinder's heroism, how could he take a chance with a stranger, let alone one of the few people strong enough to survive his sister?

"Another!" Cinder ordered, placing down the bourbon glass and Scotty becoming worried.

"Maybe-" He began, only to be interrupted.

"I'm not driving and I helped save someone's life!" She barked, her cheeks red and rosy as she buried her face into her arms.

Unknown to the toasty maiden, Junior grabbed a different bottle labeled "Alcohol-free" and poured her another drink.

"This one's on the house." He whispered to Scotty. "The first drink was seventy percent alcohol."

Cinder kept her angered expression, but it slowly melted into one of pain.

Further down the boulevard at Saint Oum's Orphanage, Gabriel had finally gotten off shift, most of the kids complaining one of their caretakers had to leave again, Tera and Jack being the most upset. With one simple smile and an assurance he'll return on Monday, the tall and muscular man walked out the door.

Tera and Jack looked at each other as the remaining kids dispersed to attend to their own devices. Jack got an idea and rushed to the toy bin to get a bouncy ball and play with Tera. As he left to retrieve it, sprinting across the foyer, he turned around to see Tera talking to other girls. She turned to him, their eyes meeting for a few seconds, only for Tera to show him a look of sorrow and walk off with the other girls. Angered, Jack began to try and crush the ball between his palms, giving up at realizing its strength and simply buried his face on its surface.

"Girls are lame anyway…" He thought, only for an image of Cinder to take over his attention. "…but she was really pretty."

Looking forward to seeing his siblings, Gabriel made his way to Junior's.

"Overall, pretty decent week. Hopefully Cinder felt the same about her new job. If not, maybe bringing her to see our show tonight would help…assuming she doesn't reject it." He thought.

Upon arriving at the front door and entering the building, Gabriel's first sight was that of Cinder grabbing Junior by his collar shouting, "IF I WANT A DRINK, I'M GONNA GET IT! NONE OF THIS 'ALCOHOL-FREE' CRAP!" Gabriel joined the three-man team who were trying to pull her off. Just as Cinder was about to set her attackers on fire, Gabriel gave one pull on her waist and got her off, holding her in the air for a few seconds before putting her down.

"What are you doing?!" He asked urgently.

Before answering, the young girl fell backwards and hit her head on a nearby table, it's shakers and napkin holder falling on her face.

Five minutes later, Gabriel had her arm around his neck and was walking her back to his apartment, grateful that Scotty allowed him to take her without quarrel.

"You know, I'm trying to have faith in you, Cinder, that you're trying to make a fresh start, but you don't seem to have started at all, yet." Gabriel scolded.

"Why do you even care?" Cinder asked, anger pouring out with her words. "Why don't you just let me sleep in a gutter? When did I ever become your goddamn problem?!"

"You're not my problem, I just-"

"-just what?!" Cinder interrupted.

"…I felt bad for you."

Cinder's eye glowed brighter than ever before, the alcohol on her breath adding to the tension. Gabriel felt his neck and hand burning, letting go of Cinder and her falling on the ground completely off balance.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Gabriel asked.

Cinder simply got back on her feet, all the anger drained from her face as she looked back at Gabriel. "…Can we just get back."

In ten minutes, the two of them were back in the apartment, Cinder slumping on the couch and about to pass out. As the young man was about to leave, turning towards and approaching the door, Cinder stopped him.

"Wait!" She called out. "Just…I'm sorry…" Gabriel turned back to her. "I just…look, don't feel sorry for me. Once I get enough money, I'll get my own place, and I'll be out of your hair."

Gabriel took a few seconds to gather his next words. "You're not in my hair, and…maybe 'feel bad' wasn't the right way to say it. Since we were young, Lucy's always been a violent psychopath, and you're just one of the few people who's actually survived her rampages." Cinder looked up at the young man. "I guess…because she hurt you in that fight, I feel like I'm responsible for you, like I owe you this much."

Cinder felt dumbfounded, and even somewhat offended. What did he owe her?

"If Lucy stepped on a bug, do you owe that bug's entire colony?" Cinder said, a slight irritation in her tone, Gabriel feeling the tension in the room returning. "If Lucy torched this whole town with her semblance, would you spend your whole life rebuilding it? I just don't understand you…"

She looked away, Gabriel aware of the time and that Cinder needed some time alone.

"If you're not happy here, I won't keep you. If you want to get your own place, that's fine too, but I prefer to help people in any way I can…and I _believe_ you're people, too."

With his final words said, Gabriel closed the door, Cinder's face now buried in the couch cushions. She heard the door close and all of her irritation morphed into depression.

"Good job, Cinder, yell at the guy who gave you somewhere to sleep." She thought. "Why do I always do that?"

Curled up on the couch, the young maiden slid into a deep slumber.

* * *

Cinder felt pressure on her knees. She opened her eyes and found herself kneeling on a floor painted in darkness. She looked around, feeling and hearing nothing at all, until she recalled the woods, then a sudden burst of wind forced her down to her side. Objects were coming into focus, the ruins of a large room. Where there were once walls was now the night sky, the broken moon appearing behind her and creating a shadow on the glass floor. Scattered over the floor were large cogs and sprockets in between glass shards and concrete debris.

A sinister chuckle came from in front of her, standing at the head of her shadow. Cinder looked up and looked into the eye of the figure. She saw them, burning silver eyes above a long and teeth-bearing grin, straight white hair falling to the sides. She wore Cinder's old off-the-shoulders red dress, earing, anklet, and glass high heels. The maiden felt her heart beating, and she rose to her feet. She raised her fists in a fighting stance, but noticed she was wearing…gloves? Yes, brown gloves, along with a bracelet and bracer on her left arm. Looking down, she felt the gold cornet around her neck, above the brown corset that shielded her chest and abdomen. Looking further down, she wore a skirt with an emblem plate and a red sash wrapped around her hips. Even further, her legs were protected by high-heeled boots with bronze greaves. Both her eyes were functional, and they both widened as Cinder reached for the back of her head, feeling not only her hair pulled back in a pony tail, but also a circlet around her forehead, tear-dropped shaped links on both sides of her head.

Lucy approached her now, her sabre drawn and light illuminating around its edge. Cinder got up and looked around, a shield and javelin behind her. Lucy stood by, patiently waiting for the young girl to gather her tools, and Cinder faced towards her opponent. Her shield faced Lucy while she held the javelin in her right hand, and in return, Lucy gave a wink.

Cinder, full of angst, charged at Lucy, swinging the javelin at the albino. Lucy dodged and took advantage of the missed attack, slashing her sword down onto Cinder only for the maiden to defend with her shield. The two continued fighting, Cinder feeling weaker and slower as the battle went on and Lucy keeping the same sadistic smile the entire way through. Towards the end, Cinder made an uppercut with the javelin to pierce Lucy's throat, only for the vicious opponent to grab the javelin's blade and stopping it dead in its tracks. Cinder felt shocked, unsure of how to counter this. Lucy, smiling with her teeth shown again, made her palm illuminate and the javelin held between her fingers began to melt. The metal began to crack until the blade shattered, its molten fragments falling to her feet like Cinder's hopes. The maiden jumped back and ran around to attack Lucy from behind with her shield. However, when she came in line with her back, Cinder threw the shield towards Lucy only for the albino to raise her sabre and sliced the shield clean in two. A light ray poured towards Cinder and its hot radiation splashed over her, her body falling back on her hands and knees. Lucy walked around as the maiden struggled, grabbed her by her hair, her eyes closing to fight the pain, and pulled her back so her butt now rested on her heels. Cinder opened her eyes and was met with the chilling image of Lucy's sabre held just a meter from her head. Cinder gave her one final look of anger, as if to ask "are you satisfied?", and, once that thought finished, Lucy impaled her right through the sternum. Her eyes were bigger than ever, her left hand reaching for the blade and right hand making a fist to cope with the agonizing pain, but soon both hands fell down and Cinder's vision faded to white. Her last image was Lucy's confident grin and her left hand reaching for the circlet atop Cinder's head.

* * *

In one heavy inhale, Cinder awoke in her sweat-drenched clothes. She rose up, quick as a flash, and examined her surroundings. When everything seemed normal, she lifted both of her arms, the grimm arm feeling like the realest evidence of reality. Her heart felt as though it were trying to beat out of her chest, even as she tried to slow her breathing. Only then she realized her human hand had been shaking and placed her grimm over it to help stop it. Eventually, she calmed down, but those thoughts wouldn't leave her any time soon.

Cinder looked out the window of the room, this building's side facing the mountain. Off to the side, visible only for a small time, was the church that she met Lucy on. The tapestry inside with all the names of the deceased. She stood up and examined the clock underneath the TV, which read "Sat 1:15 AM". Seeing no one else in the apartment, Cinder remembering Lucy's detail about her and the twins performing on Friday and Saturday nights.

"They must be wrapping right now…I'll go alone." She thought.

Over at Junior's, Lucy was preparing her bass for the next song as her brothers were bickering by the bar.

"What other evidence do I need? She's bad news and she'll take you down with her. Do we _really_ need anymore trouble?!" Michael aggressively asked his brother, his scroll showing the news report of the mining accident.

Gabriel pushed the phone away. "Look…I get it, okay? Like, I _truly_ , honest to gods, get it." Gabriel replied. "Can't believe we didn't recognize her right away. Still, though, if she really was as evil as before, why would she save those miners? Sure, she attacked Lucy, but after I intervened, why would she try anything shady again?"

His brother slammed his glass of soda on the bar. "Gabriel, do both of us a favor and stop talking to her. The world outside this city doesn't know about us and we don't need that changing. The second cops show up at the door for her, I'm pointing in her direction; no exceptions." He was sharp in his last sentence, ready to shut his younger brother up at the sound of his next word. "Once she's earned enough, I don't want her on our couch anymore. The longer she's around us, the more danger we're in. Trust me, she's not worth it. Besides, it's like Lucy always says, 'People don't change'."

Gabriel shook it off and walked away towards the stage, picking up his guitar as Lucy told him what song they would play next.

"Hey, Lucy…" He began. "…do you…think Cinder is still worth a chance?"

Lucy spent some time to think about that. "Well, she saved like three other people today…then again she _did_ conduct the largest terrorist attack in Vale's history _and_ kill Pyrrha Nikos." Her eyes began to squint as she examined the situation thoroughly. "Then again, if I could defeat her, then technically Pyrrha Nikos couldn't have been all that strong, so I guess this means I _am_ stronger than the big bad redhead…still, just sucks that I'll never get a chance to fight her."

Gabriel found no shock in what he heard and still found himself disappointed. Was all his effort for this stranger really for nothing? Considering, deep down, he found her attractive, Gabriel wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Cinder parked her motorcycle by the mountain's base again, right next to the stairs. Using her levitation, she arrived at the top in minutes, assuming at least half-an-hour had to have passed by now and Junior's Club had to have been starting to close up. The only building in sight, Cinder approached the church and opened its front door. Though dark and dusty, Cinder didn't mind any of it. She found the solitude more relaxing here than in the apartment, probably due to the nostalgia. Once inside, before approaching the tapestry, she noticed a colored light lying on the ground. She looked to its source and found it to be the stain glass window above the church's front door. She looked back and appreciated its beauty in all of its colors. She approached the tapestry again, her eyes searching for her and her father's names. Once finding them, she looked at the stain glass window again, and thought, "Dad…are you ashamed of me, of the choices I've made? Can you at least understand why I did what I did?"

The young woman continued to lurk around the pews, the seats and kneeling rests clean of dust, and decided to sit down on the edge of the front row. Of all times, only now did memories begin to flood back, times inside this very building when Cinder would hold her father's hand as he guided her through the doors along with their neighbors every Sunday. That, as far as she could recall, was the last time she could remember being legitimately happy. The dust mines came to mind, how everyone praised her as a hero despite showing her grimm arm and how free she felt knowing the acceptance of her coworkers. Even her saving the clerk at the gas station came to mind. Gabriel came to mind as well, the way he helped her getting back home, and when he said that he felt bad for her.

"Is…that why I helped them? That I 'felt bad' for them?" Cinder asked herself. She remembered Gabriel's last line before leaving her, that he helps anyone he can…even referring to her as people as well. "No…I helped them because…I wanted to?"

Needing to walk around to ease the anxiety, Cinder got up explored around floors around the aisle. Even the carpet looked new and refurbished, but how? As she walked down the carpet, Cinder nearly lost her balance when stepping on a shaky cobblestone. Quickly recovering, she noticed all the other stones were cemented together. Curious, Cinder moved the carpet over and found a stone broken off from the cemented stones around it…almost as if intentionally. At first, she decided it wasn't worth anything, but then thought, "Even if it's nothing, what do I have to lose? I'll just put it back."

With her aura enhancing her strength, Cinder slipped her fingers through the spaces and managed to pull the stone up and out of the gap.

In her room in the orphanage, Rachel was in a deep slumber until her scroll set off a loud and heart-stopping alarm, waking her up instantly. Upon recognizing the terrible noise, Rachel unplugged the device from its charger and turned the alarm off, her heart beating as hard as it could without killing the older woman.

"Oh no." She thought. "I need to call the others."

With the stone block out of its cavity, Cinder found a metal case with a four-dial-combination lock.

"What…is this?" She asked herself. "Well, if it's buried in an abandoned church, it's bound to be more than just some rare holy water."

Cinder examined the lock, wondering what the combination could be. Worse yet, did she only have a limited number of attempts before it would lock permanently?

At Junior's Club, everyone was cleaning the floors and tables, Lucy and her brothers putting back all the stage equipment, and the twins helping Junior clean up the bar. Gabriel helped move the amplifiers back into storage, holding one in each hand, when his scroll began to ring. The caller ID read "Rachel".

Feeling she had nothing to lose, the maiden put in the year she lost her father; no dice. Damn, was it an address? Cinder typed in the boarding house's street number, still didn't work. What could it have been?

Gabriel looked intimidated, hearing the urgency of Rachel's voice telling him to gather his weapons along with his siblings and to meet at the mountain's church. When he asked for an explanation, she simply insisted that lives were on the line and was already on her way there.

At this point, Cinder considered giving up and going back to sleep. Gabriel came to mind, the thought of him coming home and asking where was like he was her father. She recalled when Gabriel grabbed her from the bar and when he left the apartment, his angered face showing a more serious side. She'd go as far as to call him cute. Would Gabriel, possible, take her out in the future? The only thing that worried her was what Gabriel's idea of a date was, especially with Cinder having no experience in that field prior. Tired of thinking so hard on that topic, Cinder fell backwards and laid on the cobblestone floor, wishing she'd never come here.

Michael and Gabriel were back in their apartment, sprinting for a solid five minutes to get back home, and rummaging through their closets. Michael pulled out twin bracers with blades and pinpoint hand cannons. Gabriel pulled out twin tonfas with glocks attached to the handles.

Then it hit her, "a date". Cinder rose back up, hope in her heart, and looked back at the combination. A year didn't work, so maybe a month and day? Cinder typed in the date of her father's death, 0918. No dice. She typed in every holiday and nothing worked. Giving up sounded more probable right now. She _could_ always ask someone else, maybe Audwine or Rachel, someone who's old enough to know this place well. Two final dates came to her mind, both her birthday and her father's. First she tried her father's, 0627. Nothing, what a surprise. Finally, she tried her own, 1224. Upon turning the knobs and pushing down on the numbers, a strange clicking noise chimed and Cinder's eye lit up and widened.

Rachel landed a few meters away from the church's front door, exhausted from the high winds beating on her old wings. They were black and brown like a raptor's, their age showed as she landed uncontrollably. "Please tell me I'm not too late!" She thought, rushing towards the church.

Cinder pulled her finger away from the knobs and the surface opened, showing a small space underneath, containing a rather strange, glowing object. Once she recognized it, her heart skipped a beat, half expecting this to be a joke. She reached into the space with her grimm arm and pulled the object out, its magical prowess making itself known simply by its touch.

Rachel burst through the door, her worst fears all compacted together. She nearly began to cry from fear, making eye contact with Cinder, the infamous fall maiden, holding, in her left hand, the Relic of Destruction.

* * *

 **Well, that took longer than expected. Hey everyone, sorry this is a week late. I finally finished my internship, left on good terms and everyone wanted to be my recommendation for any new job in the future. As far as this story goes, it's probably only going to be two more chapters. I've always tried using Chekhov's gun, trying to cut out any unnecessary story bits, yet I also knew I have trouble with pacing. I have no one to edit this for me, so a good portion of these chapters are, admittedly, first drafts (don't worry, some parts were edited and redone to better fit the plot. I tend to put the plot together in my head, ironing out any potential plot holes before actually typing it and thus saving myself some work.)**

 **I've also spent time on my paramedic novel, so that's also another excuse I have for procrastinating on this. School's starting up again soon which is why there's going to be some things left underwhelmed. Some of the stuff regarding Ruby's eyes, Adam's quest for…whatever he wants to do now, and Weiss and her relationship with her family. The one thing I wanted to do with this story was give Cinder an arc, something Volume 5 should've done and, for some reason, didn't.**

 **I'll explain more in the next chapter, one that I've been looking forward to since I started this fanfic if I had to be honest.**

 **Like always, stay safe, remember to favorite, follow, and leave a review. Negatives before positives, and have a great day!**


	11. Chapter 11, Cinder's Inferno

**Chapter 11. Cinder's Inferno**

 **Had a small break then got started on this the same day I uploaded the previous chapter. I hope everyone's enjoying this story, that it at least seems like a good character arc for Cinder. Even after volume 5 and the wave of critics on YouTube saying they don't want her back, though I still respect those individuals and continue to watch their content, I still have just the slightest sliver of hope that she can at least become interesting. What I'm hoping doesn't happen in volume 6 is they either kill her right away or she bumps her head and gets amnesia. Another thought I had, since she's technically still in Mistral, would be that she escapes only to run into Pyrrha's family, thus seeing the destruction she reigned and feeling the emotional weight of it all (like how Zuko saw the destruction of his father's war in the ATLA episode "Zuko alone").**

 **Anyway, hope everyone's doing well and, if not, that this story helps just a little.**

* * *

"The greatest terror a child can have is the he is not loved, and rejection is the Hell that he fears."

-John Steinbeck, "East of Eden"

Both women stood still, Rachel drowning in anxiety and Cinder holding the Relic of Destruction, a golden dagger with a blue line running from the hilt to just its tip.

"How…did you get up here? _Why_ are you up here?" Cinder asked.

"I…uh…" Rachel tried searching her head for answers. Approaching the mountain, she expected someone along the lines of a simple robber or couple of kids who found the relic by sheer luck. Running into Cinder of all people was the last thing she'd hoped for. "I'm here…because GABRIEL! He…noticed you were gone and said you'd probably be here."

Nothing about her answer sounded fluent or natural. Cinder knew she was lying through her teeth.

"Alright, then. Next question: what am I holding?" Cinder asked. "'Cause, you see, this dagger looks suspiciously important, which begs the question: why isn't it somewhere safe like, say, a _vault_?"

Rachel knew she was exhausting Cinder's patience. She demanded answers Rachel couldn't give without putting her own life at risk, the entire world as well.

"Look, Cinder, if you just put that back where you found it, I promise I'll answer all of your questions." Rachel begged.

Cinder looked down at the object and then back at Rachel, unaware of two others approaching the mountain's church. Michael and Gabriel flew on black raven wings protruding from their backs, their weapons ready and fully loaded. While Gabriel had hopes of everything ending in everyone walking into the sunset, Michael didn't care. Cinder was greedy and a danger to everyone, more so than Lucy, and, in his view, they'd be better off without her. The twins landed onto the dead grass, fighting against the winds that pushed them further west, and approached the church.

She then recalled her confrontation with Lucy, specifically a line from the albino that raised so many questions. "Is that all a maiden's chalked up to be?"

"Do you know about the story of the four maidens?" Cinder asked, Rachel shaking her head. "Lucy mentioned them as if the story were true, so that begs the question: how would she know that they were real?"

Rachel tried searching for answers again, only to run out of time and Cinder approach the entrance. Standing just outside the walls by the door, the brothers leaned their backs against the building in breaching stances. Michael stood by the door while Gabriel was by the corner.

"Look, Cinder, I already said I'd try to answer all of your questions, but first, please just put that dagger away." Rachel insisted.

Cinder looked at it one last time. Every possible thought juggled in her head; she could either put the relic back and live a simple life in Fegefeuer, making pointless everything she'd trained for years, or take it back to Salem, possibly gaining her master's respect upon her return. Life could go back to normal and she'd be a step closer to achieving her original goal.

"You know what?" Cinder said, placing the relic in her sweatshirt pouch. "I think I'm just going to leave. Just stay out of my way."

Though firm, Cinder didn't appear smug or arrogant. Rachel extended her feet, using her body to block the door, but Cinder approached anyway, expecting the worst but also to handle it. The two locked eyes, both filled with rage and firmness, until they were barely a meter from each other. Michael and Gabriel felt a blast of energy suddenly emerge from entrance, the stain glass window above the doors nearly shattering. Cinder stood in the entrance, holding Rachel's fist which tried to freeze her in place. While Cinder's eye glowed orange, Rachel's now glowed purple.

Cinder smiled. "Well, that answers a few questions."

"Put. The relic. Back!" Rachel barked. "You don't have to do this! We want nothing to do with Salem _or_ Ozpin!"

Michael and Gabriel were now dumbfounded, questioning the names Rachel just listed.

"If you get out of my way, I swear I'll keep all of this a secret!" Cinder said to her. " _You_ don't have to do this."

"I've already lost one home; I'm not risking this one _and_ the entire world all because you want to please some thousand-year-old witch! Put the relic back now!"

All of this was pointless. What good would explaining everything to the older woman do? How much time could she have left, anyway?

Cinder formed a fireball in her hand and blasted Rachel to the side, the woman grunting in pain as she extended her wings to catch herself. Michael and Gabriel felt and instant of fear, interrupted by Cinder flying out the door and towards the stairs.

"Alright, maybe I don't need the bike. It'll be one helluva hike, but-" Cinder thought only to be interrupted by two simultaneous blows to the head, her body falling just a few meters short of the stairs.

She looked behind her to see Michael's bracers aimed at her, a laser sight fixed on her head. Rachel began to stand again, Gabriel holding her hand as she struggled.

"Wait…wait, where's Lucy?!" She asked them, anxiously.

"She said she needed to take care of something." Michael answered.

Out in the distance, Lucy sat on a tree branch, using her binocular vision to watch the entire conflict, curious as to what would happen. Her goggles rested on her brow line. She already defeated Cinder, who was well aware Lucy wasn't fighting her at full strength, so there's no way Cinder would kill her brothers or Rachel, right? She had to have known Lucy would come after her, right? Either way, she was also curious as to how strong her brothers had become, and now was her first chance to see their strength.

"Drop that dagger before I drop you." Michael ordered.

"Cinder, what is all this? Why did you attack Rachel?" Gabriel pleaded.

"…It's complicated. Look, I swear I'll come back." Cinder lied.

"We are _not_ getting wrapped up in Salem and Ozpin's never-ending war! Either put that relic back or we'll tear it from your hands!" Rachel shouted, Gabriel and Michael feeling shocked at her unfamiliar tone. "Don't make me repeat myself."

With one look at the trio, Cinder made her choice, and chose to fire glass shards at them, most at Michael. He brought up his bracers and blocked the shards only to see Cinder disappeared. The maiden flew down the steps, vacating any intention of using the motorcycle.

"It'll be easier for them to follow me if I'm above the tree line." Cinder thought. "Bet they can't fly _through_ the forest with those big wings, though."

As she reached the bottom and focused on the first trees in front of her, the toe of a white boot made contact with her nose, followed by a cutting sensation across her nose and left cheek. She fell to the ground and looked up, the boot with a blade at the tendon belonging to a teenage girl in a white dress. Accompanying her was her twin sister in a red dress with red claws on both forearms.

"Thought you could leave without saying 'goodbye'?" Melanie said.

"Or without apologizing for the waves of grimm that attacked Junior's night club in Vale?" Miltiades added.

Two thundering smashes hit the ground, Michael and Gabriel now standing in two craters and Rachel softly levitating onto the first step. She placed her hand over her chest, trying to keep a stoic face and not show the pain.

"Cinder, this doesn't have to escalate, but we can't allow you to take that relic away. Salem doesn't care about the world, and Ozpin will sacrifice anything to defeat her. Is following her really more important to you than staying with us?" Rachel insisted, her voice fatigued and calm.

She placed her head down, unable to face the crowd above, and began to plan out her next move. Was following Salem even worth it anymore? Salem promised her power and fear, right after a lifetime of imprisonment. Though, staying in Fegefeuer meant living in a city and unable to leave it. Everything she trained for would never be used again…except when she saved the miners.

Cinder looked up at her five opponents. Gabriel, how she acted after he gave her shelter. Then she thought of the twins, what they're and Junior's lives had to be like after Beacon's fall. Finally came Michael, the words, "Once you get enough money, I want you out of _my_ apartment! Capiche?" rang on full volume, followed by, "…if Mistral sends an entire battalion just to detain you, I won't stop 'em. We clear?"

"I can't run away…" She thought. "…and Salem doesn't want to destroy the world." The images of the destroyed Vale during the Vytal Festival. "This _is_ who I am…" Lucy came to mind, her saying that people don't change while trapped in the barn. "…I can't deny what I've done. There's no use fighting it." Pyrrha Nikos now came to mind, her final words of whether Cinder believed in Destiny. "…and I can't stay here, not after everything I set out to do, not after everything Emerald and Mercury sacrificed for me."

The maiden stood up, all five opponents at the ready. Cinder's eye lit up, Michael the first to attack with a single shot from his bracer. Right before pulling the trigger, faster than the blink of an eye, Cinder flew upward and then darted towards the trees.

"I swear…I'll keep all of you off her rada-" She thought before being hit with a fireball.

She fell to the ground and looked behind her, an angered Rachel flying with the same spherical aura speeding at her. Rachel prepared a punch, emanating the same blue glow that Raven used to freeze Cinder, and threw it towards the maiden, only for Cinder to dodge at the last second, the ground beneath both of them being frozen over, and kick Rachel upside the head. As she tumbled away, Cinder tried getting back up only to meet Michael divebomb towards her. She dodged him successfully, only to feel the crushing force of two muscular arms, entrapping her arms and her waist. She looked up to find him to be Gabriel.

"Cinder…if you stop now, we'll leave all of this behind." He told her. Two battle cries of the same pitch sounded right in front of them. The two snapped to attention to find the twins making their first attacks.

"Good job, Gabriel. Hold that bitch still for us!" Melanie called out.

Realizing he was in their line of fire, Gabriel turned blue in the face. "WAIT! STOP!"

Cinder fired up her aura again, creating another sphere around herself and pushing Gabriel and the twins away before they even touched her. Already from the sight of it, Rachel knew she stood no chance against the much younger maiden. Cinder flew up, exhausted from the battle.

"Dammit. I don't want to fight them, but they just won't leave me alone." Cinder thought. While levitating, she felt her sweatshirt had lightened in weight. She checked her pouch to find it empty. Fear surged through her, afraid the relic must've gotten lost in the forest.

Down below, Michael aimed his bracers at her only for Gabriel to grab his forearms. Before Michael could ask, Gabriel exposed the relic in his hand, which bled from the blade sliding against his palm.

"Cinder! This is your last chance! Forget the relic and come back with us or leave now and don't come back!" Gabriel shouted.

Cinder heard his pleas but couldn't give up yet. Then she thought about what he said, how soon he said it. Why would Gabriel bounce back that quickly? She began to descend only to see a piece of the relic in Gabriel's hand. In anger, Cinder divebombed towards him, only of the teenager to flap his wings and fly backwards. Once close enough to the ground, and Michael, Cinder turned her body to face him. She was now aligned with Michael as he stuck his palm out. In a loud bang, an invisible force thrashing her entire body against a tree. Once regaining her bearings, Cinder stood back up and looked dumbfounded at Michael, who wore a smug smile. The twins stood by his sides.

"Like it?" Michael asked. "It's my semblance: Shockwaves. Enough force to knock a car on its side. Let's see how many times stronger your aura is."

As he readied another strike, Cinder already had a plan. She turned her heels away from him, appearing to run away. Michael noticed and fired another shockwave. Cinder felt the brunt of it, like getting hit by a semi-truck, just as she planned. As she flew forward, the maiden activated her levitation, firing off three ice shots behind her as she gained momentum from the shockwave. The twins were struck in their feet and Michael took a hit to the torso, his neck and limbs the only parts that weren't frozen.

Cinder turned herself around and tried to B-line towards Gabriel. As she gained on him, Rachel saw her gaining speed and flew after her as well.

"No…I won't let us get caught…up…" Rachel couldn't finish her sentence, the fatigue and heartaches proving too much to continue this battle. "Come on you old bag…If Cinder gets that relic…there's no telling what Salem will do, what she'll take away…"

In one battle cry, Cinder's aura sphere expanded as she tackled Gabriel, the two plummeting together as one body towards the road leading into the city. Upon impact, Gabriel's eyes were closed, and even Cinder felt disoriented. Gabriel could feel the ground on his chest and Cinder could feel herself on top of the man's lower back. Upon the both of them regaining awareness, along with both of their auras disappearing, Gabriel realized he still had the relic in his hand, Cinder realizing it a few seconds later. Two blades formed within her palms and stuck both of them a hair above Gabriel's neck, the swords crossed with the intersection hovering just millimeters above the skin. Lucy saw all of this perfectly but couldn't help herself to get a "better view" as she put it in her head.

"Gabriel…I'm only saying this once: give me the relic or I'll decapitate you, RIGHT HERE!" She barked.

Gabriel didn't move. The people of the town, the orphans, the faunas, and the miners; to him, their lives were more important than his. "I'm not giving in. I _won't_ endanger other people. I _won't_ live with any guilt."

Cinder's eyebrow raised at that comment. She tightened her grip on her swords but couldn't pull them apart just yet. She couldn't tell what, but something was holding her back. No! If this was her last chance at redemption, she couldn't let it go. Like how Lucy focused her aura around her sabre, Cinder made the edges of her blades glow with intense heat.

Michael and the others arrived on scene. As soon as the two were visible, he readied his bracer, the laser sight pointing at Cinder's head. Once ready to fire, however, Lucy landed directly in front of him, surprising the group entirely.

"Lucy?! Move! I need a clear shot." Michael said.

Lucy forcefully pushed his arm down, aiming it at the ground. "No, you don't, because you're not going to intervene."

All four of them became struck by that. "Not intervene? Why the hell not?! She's about to kill our brother!" Michael reasoned, only to shut up when Lucy looked at him angrily, her silver eyes lighting up.

"I'll notice if she starts to go through with it, but I'm curious. I want to know myself what she'll do."

Cinder's entire focus was on the relic. All she cared about, or at least she told herself, was getting it back, by any means necessary.

"I'll give you to the count of three to let go of it, or I'm killing you here!" She warned. She practically severed all her connections at this point and she knew it. It was too late and taking the relic back was her only path now. "One!"

Everyone's hearts sake at the count, except for Lucy's.

"Lucy…" Miltiades shakily spoke.

Lucy grabbed her sword. "If she goes through with it, I'll make sure to kill her before she even touches him. Trust me, I think I know where this is headed."

"Two!"

Gabriel closed his eyes. If this was his deathbed, it would be better than living to see his town's destruction all because he allowed it to happen.

Rachel's chest began to hurt, her heart beating so hard it felt like it was tearing itself apart. Cinder's hands shook while handling the blades, Michael's and the girls' doing the same. Lucy was like a statue, her sabre at the ready yet feeling no hint of anxiety or worry.

She readied herself to pull the swords apart and take the relic for her own, her hands shaking harder than ever. She tried tightening her grips, Gabriel still holding his ground as hard as the relic. She couldn't bear it any longer, however. With everything Gabriel had done, from saving her from Lucy to giving her a couch, Cinder made her final decision. Even if it was too late, she made a choice, and the swords evaporated.

Time felt like it paused. Everyone's eyes widened, even Lucy's. From their angle, Cinder sat in the way, making it too hard to see the result. All they saw was the cloud of embers levitating into the air. Rachel fell backwards as if about to faint, though barely conscious. Melanie and Miltiades managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Michael and Lucy were completely fixed on the scene ahead of them.

Cinder's hands continued to shake while Gabriel opened his eyes, moving his neck around to ensure he was still alive. He only stopped checking once he heard the heavy breathing and sobbing coming from behind him. Cinder lifted herself off from him and knelt at his left side. Gabriel pushed against the ground and faced her. As he began to ask if she was okay, Cinder gave him a left hook, quickly snapping Michael and Lucy out of their trance.

While Gabriel was on the ground again, this time on his back, Cinder got on top, again, and launched another punch to his face. "YOU DAMN BASTARD! YOU MADE ME WEAK!" Another punched at his face. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FREAKING FAULT!" Third punch landing square on his cheek bone. "HOW WILL SALEM TAKE ME BACK NOW IF…" She paused her sentence but continued pummeling his face. "…IF…if…" Her punches slowed until they ceased. "…if I can't…bring myself to kill you?"

By now her punches had stopped. She looked down at him, her eyebrow raising when he looked unresponsive. She got off of him and placed her ear by his mouth while watching his chest rise and fall, followed by putting her human finger on his carotid artery. He was still alive and breathing, just unconscious.

Cinder felt relieved until she saw the relic, now free to grab in his hand. Suddenly, the ground near them exploded and standing in the crater was Michael, both bracers aimed at Cinder's head.

"Alright, you had your fun. Now get _away_ from my brother!" Michael ordered.

Cinder felt nothing; not fear, anxiety, or even annoyance. She sat there, looked at Michael, then at Gabriel's unconscious black and blue face, then at the relic.

"Don't. You. Dare!" He exclaimed.

People began to turn on their lights and either looked from their windows or stepped outside to see the commotion. Cinder looked back at Michael before standing up. Here they were, in the middle of the street with an audience absorbing what they thought was a second-degree murder. Not wanting to be here anymore, Cinder began to walk back towards the others, the Darkwood forest behind them. Upon approaching them, Cinder finally noticed Lucy, leaning against a telephone pole. Her heart almost ceased beating upon seeing her, but then remembered why she got up from Gabriel's unconscious body, that she didn't care anymore. Lucy could see it in the maiden's eye, the mixture of defeat and fatigue. She let her pass her, understanding Cinder would no longer be a problem. Cinder then passed Rachel and the twins, all three having the same shocked expression. She knew that's what they looked like, but only through peripheral vision. She couldn't bear to look any of them in the eye. She continued into the forest, the trees' shadows from the moonlight masking her presence.

Rachel continued grabbing her chest yet let out one long-awaited sigh of relief.

* * *

Gabriel began waking up, the feeling of a soft foundation beneath his body. Outside, he could hear the vague clapping of thunder. Remembering his last memory, awkward that it literally involved Cinder sitting on top of his crotch area, Gabriel sprang back up. He looked around and recognized the room as the orphanage infirmary, with Michael, Melanie, Miltiades, and Rachel sitting by his side. Rachel rushed to his side, ordering him to lay back down, one burning question keeping him from laying back down.

"Where's Cinder?!" He exclaimed.

Deep in the Darkwood forest, almost half-an-hour after the head spinning battle, Cinder continued on into the unknown.

"Where am I going?" She thought. "Why am I still alive? Did actually die back at the vault and this is Hell? Just a series of battles that I can't seem to win?"

As she continued through the forest, she recognized the path from before, when she fought Lucy for the first time. It was several consistent rings of trees that led to the lake.

"How did things ever get this screwed up?" She thought.

She passed through the first circle and recalled her childhood. One day she was with her father, prepping for school and Sunday Mass, and then next she would wake up to hear news of her entire village on the mountain destroyed. A man, who she now knew as Jacque Schnee, held onto her before sending her off to another family in Atlas. There, she would face a Hell she wouldn't wish upon anyone, not even Lucy or Ruby Rose. Anything beyond cooking and cleaning was of no concern to her new "family".

The second circle of trees sat idly by while she walked past them, the winds heavier here than before. Within that family was the much older mother, owner of the death glare that would give Cinder nightmares until she was fourteen, and the two daughters. They would complain to their mother about wanting the prettiest dresses in town, so as to not look ugly in the eyes of their rich neighbors. All Cinder wanted was a new set of clothes, something to make her _feel_ pretty. Anything but the overused smocks and wooden shoes she would wear every day. The memories of Salem granting her her every fashion wish came back as well. The only fee she had to pay was completing the various stages of her training.

The third circle of trees came to pass, her first step being in a muddy puddle; nothing to stop her from continuing, though. All those years spent cooking delicious food for the family she despised. One night, she stole a dumpling she prepared only to be caught red-handed by the mother. The young girl was beat severely and was forbidden from eating at all that night. It wasn't until she reached fourteen that she ate the first slice of chocolate cake, baked by Salem herself. That first bite of the greatest dessert she'd ever have was all she needed to become putty in Salem's hands.

Cinder got to the fourth circle of trees, only now noticing the ground littered with rocks and stones everywhere. The family was very wealthy, a dear friend and important subordinate to the Schnee family, and not one cent was donated to Cinder as an act of kindness. They didn't bother to buy her a bed nor normal clothes and food. She slept in the ashes of the fireplace, wore only four different smocks which would only be replaced as she grew out of them, and ate the fruit and vegetables that grew in the garden. Salem made many promises to Cinder, one being that she'd have her own kingdom one day. Servants preparing the finest of wine and cuisine, providing the prettiest of dresses, and cleaning up any mess she would make.

Circle five of the trees came just as quickly, the storm now upon her and the trees only partially covering her from the drizzle. It reminded her of _that_ night: on two consecutive nights, Cinder made two prayers, and on the second one she prayed to anyone listening that the family die and she be set free. Little did she know that the one listening was a witch that no one could hope to defeat.

The sixth circle of trees came now, this space between them rings being quite deep. She used her levitation to hop the gap the first time like she would now. Being a maiden was like being an ant on a spiderweb, the last thing she'd _ever_ want to be. Here, she recalled the promise she made to herself, that she would tear apart the fragile friendships between the kingdoms. She swore, the day she left that wretched family, their bloodied corpses to burn with the rest of their manner, that she would make the world feel the pain she was forced to bear. "The hunstmen be damned." She thought. "Where was _my_ help when Dad died and I became enslaved?" Only now did she feel amongst the damned herself.

Cinder entered through the seventh circle of trees, the flashbacks of violence flooding back. The first of these acts was minor, at least compared to later. The night Salem first appeared was that of her second prayer, after the mother and sisters mocked her own mother and father, that they burned in Hell "where they belonged." The day before, however, was the day the mother beat her over the dumpling, to which she knelt at the fireplace and made her first prayer. She prayed for a quick death. Maybe the fireplace randomly starting as she slept and burned or suffocated her. Maybe the chandelier would fall on her as she was sweeping. Maybe anything would happen, as long as it was quick. Perhaps that's what she was doing _here_ , walking through the woods in hopes "anything".

The trees in the eighth circle were much larger, as was the gap. While walking through the shallow mud, she recalled every lie she'd ever used. She asked the White Fang to help in her crusade and attacked them when Adam Taurus first declined. She disguised herself, Mercury, and Emerald as Beacon students to get information on the Vytal festival…the Vytal festival. How she deceived the audience into thinking Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Nikos were made to be killers by Ozpin. Her promises to Mercury and Emerald to have them by her side when she could care less what would happen to them in the end. Her betrayal of Raven at the vault, her only accomplishment being that she killed her red-herring subordinate. Well, now she was alone. No one left for her to deceive, and that gave her a feeling of ease.

Finally, she reached the ninth circle of the trees, and upon passing it she found the sight of the lake. Her first thought was Lucy, how she almost killed her for the sake of a power she didn't even have. Then Gabriel, risking whatever relationship they had for Salem. Speaking of Salem, who could forget Cinder disobeying Salem's orders of staying away from Ruby Rose? Cinder, apparently.

She fell to her knees on the grass before the lake, all by herself. It couldn't be any other way. She inhaled the air, its smell so fresh and relaxing. Perfect for the occasion. Cinder formed a glass dagger in her human hand, examined it, and cut the wrist of her grimm arm. It only healed. The sight of the arm's healing only angered her.

"I don't want to die a monster." She thought.

In one swoop, she sliced off the arm, feeling slightly satisfied, or at least until it began to quickly grow back. She recalled when Salem first got her that arm, saying it can't create or utilize aura. However, cells in the human body multiply in order to heal wounds, and so Salem made the arm to regenerate so long as its foundation was still attached to Cinder.

With the arm fully regenerated, the young woman began to break down crying again. Amongst her sobs, she could hear faint growls behind her. She opened her eye and turned around, a platoon of grimm gathering before her. Cinder stood up and faced her stalkers, dropping the glass dagger and forming twin glass swords in both of her arms.

"Not a bad way to go, I guess." She thought.

As she brought them up in a fighting stance, she could feel the ground beneath her shake. She looked down and behind herself, seeing the lake water vibrate and decrease as the water made three mountains in the center. She turned back around to find the crowd backing down in fear from the three rising creatures. Turning back around, she watched as the water slid off the three large heads, revealing grimm that reached the size and scale of the dragon grimm in Vale. Cinder began to back up as the monsters approached her, the grimm mass behind her began to retreat into the forest as the giants extended their claws to get onto the shore. The monster to the left had a skull shaped like a jaguar, the one to the right looked like a wolf, and the one in the middle had a skull of a Lion. The Lion began sniffing at Cinder, who stood there amazed by what she bore witness.

"Wor…y." A random voice said. She looked around but saw no humans present. "Worthy." She looked around again before looking back at the lion, its eyes fixated on her.

"I…can hear him?" She thought. Cinder looked down at her grimm arm and then recalled the fall of Beacon, how the dragon understood her despite being entirely human.

"You…" The lion continued. "…are _not_ worthy!"

* * *

 **Ha HA! Out sooner than a lot of you probably expected! Well, here you all are, the chapter I've been dying to make since I started this fanfic. Gotta say, it feels better when you're working alone, not having to worry about things like "Studio interference" or other people's schedules. The next and final chapter should be out fairly soon. I'm gonna spend Friday with my family so I don't know** _ **how**_ **soon but it's also one I've been waiting to make. Answers regarding chapter 10 and this one will be in the next chapter, specifically the relic and Cinder and Gabriel's backstory. Some things like Adam and Weiss/Ruby storylines probably won't get answered so I'll attach another page explaining what I had in mind for them. Think of it as what I hope will be in volume 6/the end of the series.**

 **Hope you all are having a wonderful day. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. Negatives before positives. I will see all of you next time! Stay Silver!**


	12. Chapter 12, Phoenix Part 1

**Chapter 12. Phoenix, part 1**

 **Holy crap, we're finally here, guys! The final chapter to my story! I've mentioned many times before that there's going to be a lot of unanswered questions, however the one thing I wanted to finish was Cinder's character arc. I'll be starting school again soon, specifically engineering courses, so instead of making everyone wait several weeks for a chapter, I'll simply make this one and a bonus page where I explain what I want to see next volume. Some people have been asking if I like to do requests/other stories, but I don't see myself doing anything like that. I'm going to be too busy with school** _ **and**_ **writing my own personal novel, so it's best for me personally if I just leave this here and come back in the Winter, maybe, just to do something miniscule. Who knows, it may not even be Rwby-related.**

 **At one point in the story, Cinder's hair is going to change to look like Hana's from "Wolf Children" (Trust me, you'll understand why).**

 **Thanks to everyone who's stuck by me with this and I hope you enjoy this last chapter. Fair warning, this is the chapter that's going to feel more like a fanfiction than anything prior, but it's one that I've been wanting to write for a while. Basically, these last few chapters have been part of my plan since day 1, along with certain moments that, unfortunately, won't be addressed in a manner of story. Here's to hoping V6 fixes a lot of problems and, I pray, develops Cinder.**

* * *

The ground shook with each step the monsters took, approaching the raven-haired maiden. Cinder could feel her heart beating, torn between obeying the instinct to dodge and her earlier decision to kill herself. She snapped out of her trance when the ground shook and knocked her off balance. Once collecting her bearings, she saw the lion's giant claw come down to smash her. However, that wasn't good enough. With what little juice of aura she had left, she levitated out of the way of the claw, smashing down and leaving a SUV-sized footprint, and hovered above the forest. Below her were all the grimm coming back together, the griffins and hawks flying upward to attack. Things quickly became a game of tag, only it was now the tagger who had to run.

Cinder looked towards the city, possibly her only means of escape. Then all the events and thinking in the past hour returned, preventing her from moving. A large shadow suddenly covered her, to which she looked up and saw a griffin in a nosedive. She dodged the monster only to see more of its companions trying the same strategy. More came at her from all directions until one in particular got a hit in and she fell to the ground.

She got back on her feet only to look around and see nothing but grimm, the three giants closing in as well behind her.

"…it's…hopeless…" She thought, falling to her knees. "Pyrrha Nikos, Vernal…wherever you are, you won't have to wait any longer. I'll be seeing you soon." She imagined both women, waiting on the other side to torment her for eternity.

As the wolf made a leap at her, his claw drawn and heading towards Cinder, a loud clashing sound rang throughout the lake. At first, Cinder took it as a thunder crash from the storm, until she felt a massive forearm scoop her up, surprising her.

"You okay?" She heard her rescuer say.

She looked up to see Gabriel, his face still black and blue. Despite the damage, he wore a smile that said everything about the conflict earlier. His black wings extended for several meters as they flapped and brought them closer to the stars.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Cinder asked.

"Just had a couple questions that only _you_ could answer. Let's get out the hell outta-" The faunas's sentence was cut off by the howling shriek of a hawk grimm, soaring towards them. As Cinder prepared the last of her aura to prepare one last sword, Gabriel raised his tonfa, a glock built into the handle, and fired several rounds at the bird's face. In five seconds, it lost both of its eyes and barreled down to the ground, landing in a heap of mud. Its body evaporated and the twins emerged through its smoking corpse, appearing to now wearing jean shorts and shirts with their respective colors. Melanie wore her blades on knee-high boots and Miltiades wore normal tennis shoes. Cinder looked around the forest, expecting to find Lucy, but no cigar. Rachel appeared absent as well.

Cinder struggled to get out of the man's arms. "Let. Go of me. Dammit Gabriel, you're not supposed to be here!"

"Just shut up!" He barked, Cinder snapping to attention. "Cut the angsty crap and just come back to us-"

He was cut off again by the loud roar of the lion grimm, waving its claws at the two of them. Gabriel dodged only to be met with the jaguar leaping at them, jaws extended. With no time to dodge, Gabriel lifted one arm off of Cinder and stood still midair to allow the beast to chomp down on them. Cinder, out of fear, closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Chomp! The monster bit down on them both, only for Cinder to open her eye upon realizing she felt no pain and found Gabriel's feet and free arm holding its jaws in place. Cinder looked amazed.

"You alright?" He asked, to which she nodded. "Okay, let's get out-" Gabriel was cut off by Michael shouting Melanie's name in the distance. Cinder and Gabriel looked back and saw the giant wolf stepping on the other grimm towards the twins, Michael fending off the giant lion.

Gabriel felt anxious, but before he and Cinder could fly out, the jaguar took advantage of the distraction, reared its head back and snout upward. Gabriel was now holding onto its top jaw tooth, wailing out in pain once its mouth closed and entrapping his fingers between the teeth. Seeing him in pain left Cinder only one option.

Michael looked on, stunned by the fact that his own brother was swallowed whole, only to be taken out by Melanie's distant pleas.

"Michael, cover us!" Melanie shouted, her and her sister surrounded by grimm.

The faunas put his hands together and made a shockwave that pushed the lion back and into the water. His weapons drawn and anger reaching higher limits, the grimm turned their attention to the divebombing bird as he readied another shockwave. Though the constant recoils were killing his arms, it didn't stop him. He used both hands individually to blow all the surrounding grim away and, once recovering from the recoil, grabbed both girls and flew upwards. A bird grimm flew towards him only to get headbutted in response.

Upon saving his girlfriend, Michael hoped there was still time to save Gabriel only to look over at the giant jaguar who shrieked in panic. The monster shook its head until a blinding light bore out of its jaws and a strong beam burst out the back of its skull. The carcass fell back into the lake and Gabriel swooped out of its dissolving head, holding Cinder in both of his arms with her back facing his torso. Michael, Melanie, and Miltiades watched in awe.

"There!" Cinder pointed at the wolf grimm as it gunned towards them.

Gabriel hatched an idea. "Hey, your aura can cover me so long as we're touching, right?"

"Y-Yes. Why?" Cinder asked.

"Hold on and give me some of that maiden aura. This might get rough."

At first, she felt afraid of what he had in mind, but quickly gave up and used what little remains of her maiden aura she could muster.

Meanwhile, now relaxed to see his brother safe, Michael fought off more of the airborne grimm, Melanie hanging onto his back while he used his right bracer to fire at the incoming demons. He knew they wouldn't last much longer, but a grimm that size would rip half of Fegefeuer apart. Retreating would mean luring it to the city, which left the option of fighting to the end their only one.

The giant wolf made another loud cry at the trio from the ground before Melanie turned her head towards the remaining body of the giant jaguar. Recalling the jaguar's head blown out from inside, Melanie hatched her own idea.

"Mikey! Get me and Miltia closer to the wolf's head. We'll take out its eyes and you can shoot through to its brain. Think you can you do it?" Melanie explained.

Michael gave an arrogant smirk and nod while Miltia turned blue in the face with eyes widened.

"WAIT! I NEVER AGREED TO-" Miltiades began before Michael let go of her to grab the back of her shirt.

Melanie climbed on top of his shoulders and pounced off as Michael pulled back on Miltiades like he was about to throw a baseball.

"HEADS UP!" Michael shouted, throwing Miltiades who screamed all the way towards the monster's roaring face.

She extended her claw and caught onto the wolf's face, holding on for dear life as it swayed its head around.

"MILTIA!" Melanie shouted, plummeting face first towards the same eye.

She curled her body around as she prepared a kick. Miltiades caught onto the plan and, once the beast began to calm down, readied her claw. Once Melanie made contact with its face, the two girls struck in unison and pulled out several pieces of the monster's eye. The grimm shrieked in pain as the two girls free fell to the ground while it threw its head back. Michael flapped his wings to stay in place, trying to hold off the remaining airborne grimm, and aimed his left bracer at the monster's eye. In the blink of an eye, Michael aimed his weapon and fired a single shot perfectly into the eyehole, piercing the monster's brain. Within seconds, the demon fell on its side but showed signs of life, evident from its twitching legs.

Gabriel lifted himself and Cinder up into the air and prepared another nosedive.

"Alright, before I do this, do you trust me?" He asked, looking and sounding serious.

Cinder gave a pause followed by a sigh. "Yes."

She let her aura flow onto him and he began his dive towards the lion's head. The beast looked up at what looked like a falling star, growling and letting out one last loud roar. Gabriel made a fist, merging his semblance with Cinder's aura, and they both made out a loud battle cry. The distance between them and the monster shortened in two seconds, Gabriel extending his fist upon contact with the creature's skull.

CRASH! The beast's head began to shatter, red flesh from underneath exposed everywhere and trees shook from the shockwave. The carcass fell to the ground and the two of them gently descended next to it as it evaporated into the air.

There were a few seconds of silence before Michael broke it with a final shot at the wolf's head. All five of them were heavily breathing, absorbing the carnage they brought onto the surrounding grimm. Cinder looked up at him, marveling at the enormous man before her; Gabriel returned the favor, noticing the smaller woman's eye still glowing. Gabriel just realized he was still holding onto Cinder's waist; Cinder had just realized she was still holding onto his arm. The two awkwardly let go and backed away from one another, Cinder's eye ceasing its maiden glow. As Cinder was about to thank them, Michael set the tone.

"There, she's safe. Can we go now?" Michael asked, towards his brother in anger.

Cinder looked at him, who only looked back at her.

"Yeah, we're fine. Can…you guys give us a moment?" Gabriel asked the group, Michael sighing out of disappointment.

Michael turned around and motioned for the twins to follow. Melanie followed without a second thought but Militades felt discouraged.

"You sure you'll be alright." She asked, Gabriel replying with a confident smile and a vertical hand wave.

The short-haired girl turned towards Michael and caught up to him and her sister as they left for the city.

"You know, we're a pretty good team Cinder. I talked to Rachel and she-" Gabriel stopped himself upon realizing the maiden was walking away. He ran after her, walking in rhythm with her.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked.

"I don't know. Just…wherever the road takes me, I guess." She answered, her words sounding frail.

"Then why not come back with us?"

"Because…I'll just screw up again."

Another brief moment of silence ensued.

"Gabriel, I know you mean well…and you have the biggest heart out of anyone I've ever met." Cinder then thought of Ruby Rose, still believing her statement to be correct. "But…I've made too many mistakes. For every good thing I've ever done, there's ten horrible things attached. I'm…beyond hope."

Gabriel stepped up, his voice firm. "No! You aren't. You're not just gonna give up like that." She stopped in her tracks but refused to look up at him. He turned to face her. "You've proven you're capable of doing good things, Cinder. I've seen the news reports. Sure, you've done bad things, but they're not _all_ you've done. To those workers in the mines, you were a hero!"

Cinder snapped to his attention in anger, her eye glowing and grimm arm raised. "Do I look like a hero?!"

Gabriel remained stoic, Cinder's eye slowly losing its glow. He reached out and grabbed her hand, her eye widening as their hands lowered to waist level.

"Let's take a walk." Gabriel said, his voice soft.

* * *

In Rachel's room at the orphanage, the old woman laid on her bed with a glass of water next to a bottle of cardiac medication on the nightstand. Alongside them was an alarm clock, the time reading 4:01 AM. Lucy sat next to her, playing games on her scroll. Rachel laid awake under her covers, thinking for the past hour entirely of Cinder.

"Do you think they're alright?" Rachel asked.

"Uhhhh…yeah?" Lucy answered. "Trust me, Cinder may have had the guts to kill someone before all that drama in Vale, but not now. I _saw_ that look in her eye; the look of defeat." She smiled at that last sentence.

"Would…you mind if Cinder came back?"

"I don't really care. She wants to leave, why stop her? Didn't that guy…uh…Oscorp-"

"Ozpin."

"Yeah, him. Hasn't the whole 'Choice' argument always been _his_ schtick?"

"But it's different here." Rachel began to raise her volume only to stop upon feeling a slight irritation in her chest again. "It's just…I've never seen Gabriel choose to go to such lengths for anyone, especially someone who threatened to decapitate him and _then_ beat him until he was knocked out. She didn't even grab the relic."

"Well, what would it say if she _did_ come back?"

"…it would say, hopefully, that she's done. Done with everything related to the relics, Salem, Ozpin…all of it."

"So, what are _you_ hoping for?"

Rachel couldn't come up with an answer right away. She politely asked Lucy to take the relic back to the church's safe, to which the albino did, and that question repeated in her mind until she found her answer.

* * *

The two warriors continued their long walk back to the city, Gabriel's wings extended as umbrellas above them as the rain poured.

"How did you do that? Crushed the grimm's head I mean?" Cinder asked.

"My semblance is super strength. When I was young, I wanna say eight, there was a big car accident downtown where Rachel took the three of us for a festival. A car turned on its side as it tried to make a sharp turn. It was a convertible, too, and it was about to flip onto its roof, so I rushed towards it and extended my hands like I was about to catch it. I was just lucky enough to activate my semblance at that precise moment." Gabriel answered.

Cindered marveled at the giant, young man before her. "Guess that explains why you're…big." She felt relieved, saving herself last second from saying "ripped" or "buff".

"Actually, that's not because of my semblance." Gabriel continued. "After that day, Rachel got me very worried, constantly telling me not use my semblance unless it was an emergency. Even then, I loved feeling strong, knowing I wasn't some weak little kid, so I made a decision: if I had to be strong, I'd spend every day getting stronger. For ten years now, I've exercised and ate healthy, only stopping to play guitar with Michael and Lucy or working at the orphanage."

Cinder thought of what he said; training for years on end only to break for others. Mercury and Emerald came to mind, specifically how Cinder _never_ took a break for them.

"Guess exercising also included how to use those tonfas?" Cinder asked.

Gabriel adjusted the holsters around his waist. "Yeah, well, when you live in somewhere like Fegefeuer, no one blames you for learning self-defense…or in our cases, self-taught. Actually, if you don't mind me asking, again, where exactly are you from?"

Cinder took a small pause before giving her simplest answer. "Here." Gabriel raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Fifteen years ago, this city used to be called 'Empyrean' and I lived, only with my father, in that village on top of the mountain. Everything, at least from what I can remember, was great…until one night…when he, along with the rest of the village, died."

"W-What happened e-exactly?"

"…I didn't realize until a little while ago, but it was actually a group of bandits who attacked us in the middle of the night. The last thing I remember was their leader, a huntress with black hair, impaling my father through his chest. I'll never forget his eyes, how sad and painful they looked as he slowly died in front of me. Then, and I don't know why, the leader pushed me off the edge of the mountain and there was this blinding light that came up from behind her. I didn't know all the details until later, but I woke up the next morning on a ship headed to Atlas. Then…"

Cinder's hand began trembling, Gabriel tightening his grip to try to relax her. "…then…a man, whom I eventually found out was Jacque Schnee, held onto me for about a week before selling me to one of his richest neighbors."

"Wait! He _sold_ you! That's human trafficking!"

"Yeah…I really wish he cared; would've saved me a lot of trouble. For the next nine years, I was the house maid, the cook, the plumber, all for an old witch and her two spoiled daughters." Cinder's grip tightened harder than ever, but Gabriel did nothing in response. "I…couldn't fight back, not when I didn't know how to. They always kept me locked in my room when company was over and told me to eat my meals outside in the vegetable garden. One night, I just snapped, just knelt and prayed in the garden for a miracle, and then…a miracle happened in the form of Salem." Cinder's memories of that night, once her favorites to revisit were now her most shameful, sent chills up her spine. "She appeared out of nowhere and asked me what I wanted most. So, I said, 'I want to be strong. I want to be feared. I want…to be powerful.' She told me she could make that fantasy into a reality if I swore my allegiance to her, and so I did. Earlier that night, I activated my aura without realizing it and she told me how to use it. Needless to say, I left that dreadful family in pieces." Gabriel continued listening, trying to remain calm while Cinder resumed. "So, for the past six years, I trained under her guidance and, eventually, brought about the fall of Beacon." There was another awkward pause. "…I'm not proud of what I did back then, and I'm not proud of who I am now."

Gabriel looked over, the maiden hanging her head in shame. She stopped in place again.

"And that's why I want you to go back without me. I don't even belong here; I had my second chance and I blew it." Cinder said gloomily.

Gabriel understood her well enough, to which he had the best counter-argument. "Do you really believe you're the most evil person here?"

Cinder's eye widened.

"Trust me when I say I've seen worse.

"I told you my parents have been dead for over a decade too, right? Well, I had a night just like the one that happened to you." Cinder inhaled in shock. "Our parents owned their own dust company in Vacuo, but they were more than that. Our company owned most of the dust mines and sights around that part of the continent, and we were all one big family of angel faunas. Some of my family worked in the mines, others worked in the sights, and a few even worked as nuns and pastors in the churches around the continent. Wings of every color and bird species, we were royalty in the eyes of the continent…but not everyone."

Cinder felt her heart skip a beat.

"From what Rachel's told us, the Schnee Dust company tried to bargain for our family's company but our father pushed them away each time, something about them not treating their workers properly, I think.

"Then, in just one night, everything fell apart. Our house had been set ablaze, Rachel grabbed me and my siblings and rushed for the police only to be caught by our attackers, and, before we knew it, our parents were gone. Rachel kept all of it a secret because they paid her hush money…and threatening to kill us if we went public didn't hurt their chances either. One day in particular, Lucy activated her semblance when a random stranger tried to kidnap her and roasted him alive. To avoid publicity, the company transferred all of us to here.

"So, for the next fifteen years, we've just lived here, quietly and without a problem. Michael activated his semblance when he was getting bullied one day, and he definitely took after Lucy since then."

Cinder began piecing the dates together, her village's assault happening around the same time as the assault on Gabriel's. She guessed Gabriel knew that already too, which raised one question in her mind. "But…why _not_ want revenge? Salem told me I was enslaved because of the huntsmen turning their backs on me, so how come you didn't do the same?"

"It's come to mind before, but then I ask, 'Does it even matter anymore?' I was only three when our parents died, so, not to sound nihilistic, I can't say it had much of an effect on me. I've always considered Rachel to be my mother."

"Does it even matter anymore?" Cinder thought.

Only now did she realize how long she held Gabriel's hand with her grimm one. He looked down too and, blushing immediately, let go of her hand and began apologizing. For the first time, she found him to be charming and made a grab for his hand again.

Just then, Gabriel's scroll began to ring, the caller ID reading "Rachel".

"Hey Rach…yeah, I'm heading back now…yeah Cinder's here too…ugh, yes I'm fine, and so is she…what…o-okay…thanks, I love you too." Gabriel hung up his phone and looked at Cinder. "That was Rachel. She said…she wanted to talk to you."

Cinder felt surprised, though didn't suspect any hostility. The two continued walking towards the city, the sky brightening as the sun began to rise.

* * *

Junior slammed the door to the upstairs apartment of the restaurant, Michael and the twins standing in the living room and soaking wet from the rain. The older man, wearing a wife-beater and basketball shorts, gave Michael a death glare, to which Michael hung his head in shame.

"I've always told you: _never_ be out after dark, and instead you're just now arriving at four in the morning?! What is wrong with all of you?!"

Melanie intervened. "Junior, look, it was urgent. That girl who knew Roman, she was about to steal…something…and we _had_ to stop her!"

"If it was _that_ important, you should've just called the cops instead of just chasing after her." Junior pointed at Michael. "As for you, I expected better. I've trusted you with Melanie since we moved here and, until tonight, you've never been a problem."

"I know, Junior, and I'm sorry. Look, no one's hurt, and got what we wanted anyway, so…if you're gonna punish someone, let it be me. I'm the one who dragged the girls into it, so it's my fault."

Junior made a loud sigh. "Just…at least let me know ahead of time if you go to fight someone, especially outside the city limits. Otherwise, forget about a punishment."

The young trio felt ecstatic knowing they were off the hook, Junior feeling the dire need of a vacation.


	13. Chapter 12, Phoenix Part 2

**Chapter 12. Phoenix, part 2**

 **Sorry to pull a Harry Potter/Hunger games, but this specific chapter should be the conclusion to the story. I was afraid the last part would go on for too long, especially because of certain relationships I want Cinder to form. The part in the first description talking about Cinder's hair should be addressed here. Sorry for the inconvenience, guys. I'm kind of in a rush to finish this story, but I want to finish it nonetheless. I swear, this'll be the last of the "Rise from the Cinder" chapters and, as I planned, a conclusion to Cinder's arc.**

Cinder and Gabriel were back in town, the sun beginning to rise on the beautiful Saturday morning with a rainbow in the distance. The clouds moved west, towards the forest, and the rain finally stopped. Gabriel, his hand free from Cinder's, used his key to gently open the door.

"Okay…" He whispered to her. "The orphans should all still be asleep, so try to be quiet."

Cinder nodded as Gabriel slowly opened the door…only to feel something run out and grab his leg with full force. Both warriors panicked, only to realize what, or who, the attacker was. They looked down at the little face who appeared ecstatic to see Gabriel.

"Tera? What are you doing up this early…er, why were you just waiting outside the door?" Gabriel asked, sounding frustrated.

"Ms. Rachel said you went into the forest and I got sad! I miss you all the time, Gabriel!" Tera wailed, Gabriel rubbing her head to calm her down. Cinder assessed the situation, finding it rather…cute…to see how much Gabriel meant to her.

"Okay then. Is Ms. Rachel still awake?" Gabriel asked, less frustrated.

"Mhmm. She's in her room."

After Gabriel quietly guided her back to her bed, inside a large room with other beds for the two dozen other orphans on the second floor, he and Cinder went to Rachel's room the hall. Upon appearing in the doorway, Rachel was found watching TV before noticing the two guests. Her eyes widened upon seeing Cinder, who looked at her with sorrow and regret, and she noticed it immediately.

"Thank you for…returning." She said. "Here, sit down." She sat up in her bed and patted the mattress at her feet.

Gabriel and Cinder, reluctantly, sat down, with her sitting closer to Rachel. Before Rachel could say anything, Cinder interrupted her.

"I'm sorry…I betrayed your trust after you gave me a chance." She said. "I don't have an excuse, and I have so much to make up for, but-"

Rachel interrupted her by placing her right hand on Cinder's right thigh. "I know you will, and I believe you'll do it." Gabriel remained silent while Cinder allowed the relief from Rachel's statement to ease her stress. "I called you just to see if you were alright, but I feel more relieved to see you're _both_ alright…although, you could use a little help, Cinder."

The old maiden put out her hand, reaching underneath Cinder's hair for her left eye. Upon making contact, both of their aura fields illuminated the room, Gabriel having to close his eyes while Cinder's widened in surprise. Ten seconds quickly passed before Rachel took her hand away and told Cinder to look in her mirror. Her heart overflowing with hope, Cinder ran to the dresser which held up a mirror and moved her hair, seeing the scar on her face still visible but its skin seemed to have smoothed out. Cinder placed her human hand to it, feeling her skin and glad to know it wasn't an illusion, but when she tried to open her eyelid, all her hope vanished. The left eye was still gone. As her right eye began to glow and she tightened her fists in anger, she looked back at the bed to see Rachel breathing heavily, her left hand on her chest and Gabriel holding her right. All of Cinder's anger drained the second she saw the vulnerable Rachel and sat back down on the bed.

"…okay…let me…see how much…I got done." Rachel said, extending her hand to examine Cinder's face again.

"You…the eye's still not there." Cinder added.

"Oh, I'm sorry Cinder. I tried to heal it as best I could, but I just can't do it as well as I used to." Rachel didn't want to add that the fight from earlier took a lot of her aura out of her as well. "Speaking of which, Gabriel, can you pass me my pills and that glass of water?"

As the faunas got up to do his chore, Cinder sat closer to Rachel. "But, I don't understand. How can you forgive me so easily? You of all people should know how powerful maidens are, so why not call the authorities?"

"I raised Gabriel and his siblings, so any choice they make is a result of my wisdom. If Gabriel still trusts you, then who am I to not?"

Gabriel handed her two pills and the glass of water, Cinder smiling at the end of that sentence. "Thank you, Gabriel. If you'd like to go home, you can. I'd rather talk to Cinder by ourselves."

Gabriel and Cinder looked at each other, Cinder nodding to assure him it was alright. Gabriel stepped out, only to be tackled by Tera again as he approached the stairs.

Rachel continued talking to Cinder. "Also, like Audwine, I knew your father as well, Cinder." The young maiden shot her a surprise look. "Such a nice man, he was. Your mother, too, was such a sweet woman, always smiling, so bubbly…always caught eating sauerkraut at parties while she was pregnant with you." Cinder felt as if she were about to break down. "Once in a while, your father held parties at his house and I was lucky enough to come to a few. In a way, I felt obligated to help you. I just wanted you to earn it first. Even after everything that happened between Beacon and last night, seeing you walk away without the relic showed me you had changed. Am I correct?"

Cinder was still trying to absorb all of the information, her mind frozen after hearing her mother. Once processing the final sentence, she answered, "…Yes."

"Good. Still, I suppose it's my fault for not hiding the relic as well as I should have."

"Wait, _you_ put the relic under the church?"

"Well, I assume Salem's told you of how incredibly stupid Ozpin was." Cinder sighed as Rachel continued. "Originally, Gabriel's family was once one of the first settlers into Vacuo, coming in from Atlas. There, the family would become the continent's most wealthy settlers until they could afford to cement their place. They created the villages, ran the government and churches, and held a heavy influence over the authorities. Now, I assume you know how a maiden's powers transfer naturally, correct?"

Cinder nodded. "Yes. To get them, you need to be in the previous host's final thoughts."

"Well, Vacuo had its own means of keeping a tab on the Summer maiden. As a maiden would approach her time of passing, she'd be forced to stay in a hospice. Just before the moment of passing, the woman chosen by the current host would be brought to her just before the current host would die. This way, it'd be easier to have them in the maiden's final thoughts, something dear old _Ozpin_ didn't bother giving any thought when he created them…and guess who, at the age of just seventeen, qualified to be the next maiden."

Cinder smiled and grabbed Rachel's hand with her human arm. She then remembered Pyrrha, seeing her downstairs with Ozpin and Amber, the previous fall maiden, aware of Ozpin's intent. "You must've been scared."

"I was. I attended Shade academy and made so many friends, but becoming a huntress meant putting the world's safety before my own, even if it cost me." As Rachel continued, Cinder's heart felt like it was cracking. "In my youth, I was the valedictorian, the best in paper and physical exams, and the teachers at Shade saw my potential and selected me."

"To protect the family."

"Correct. Now the relic: it _was_ in its vault until I took it out. After the family's death, the Schnee Dust Company offered me to work in the refinery here in Mistral."

"Hush money."

"Indeed, and they gave us a bonus as well. However, if we ever publicly made ourselves known, they threatened to hire huntsmen to come after us. So, before we moved down here, I went back for the relic and took it with me. Spent money on a safe and installed it under the stones of the abandoned church."

"…but, the code was my birthday. Why?"

"Figured no one would figure it out. The code to an all-powerful relic being a dead girl's birthday? Of all the names listed on that tapestry, you'd seem as the least important."

Cinder looked down at the floor, still absorbing all of the information. "I'm…guessing _you_ made that tapestry, then?"

Rachel smiled and nodded.

"Rachel!" A little boy called out from down the hall. "I woke up, can I have breakfast?!"

Cinder and Rachel remained sitting as the owner of the little voice turned the corner into the room, revealing her to be Jack, rubbing the sand out of his eyes and dragging a wolf grimm plushie. Upon entering the doorframe, Jack inhaled in surprise at the sight of Cinder, and then wear an ecstatic expression before running up to Cinder and hugging her leg.

"Alright." She sighed. "Let's get you fed."

Before she could get her feet out from the bed, Cinder stood up and moved towards the door. "Actually, do you want me to feed him? I-I mean, you're comfy and…"

Rachel smiled. "Old?" Cinder looked down in shame, but Rachel simply laughed it off and snuggled back in bed. "Jack, is Gabriel still here?"

"Uh, yeah. He's downstairs with Tera." The boy answered.

"Alright. Cinder, could you feed him, please?" Rachel calmly asked.

Cinder nodded, and Jack grabbed her grimm hand, pulling her down the hallway, downstairs, past the foyer, and into the kitchen. While passing the foyer, Gabriel was sleeping on the couch with the TV turned on. Tera, wearing a brown night gown with gold on its frame, was leaning against his arm with a hawk grimm plushie and making plane noises until she saw Cinder and Jack. The small boy stood beside the opened fridge door with the gallon of milk in his hands while Cinder stood by the cabinets above the sink.

"It's _that_ one!" The kid said, pointing at the farthest left cabinet.

Cinder pulled on the little door and inside was all boxes of cereal. The cabinet next to it was all cereal bowls. Once getting a bowl and grabbing a box, Cinder dropped the bowl onto the counter, making a loud clank but not shattering.

Jack looked up at Cinder, his eyes widening at seeing Cinder's distressed expression. "Miss Cinder? Are you okay?" He asked.

Cinder looked to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Yeah, don't worry Jack. I'm…just a little tired."

Jack smiled and handed her the gallon of milk. Cinder placed it next to the bowl and began pouring the cereal. The title read, "Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes" and had a picture of Pyrrha Nikos eating a spoonful while smiling and giving a thumbs up. She gave Jack the bowl of cereal and he ran into the dining room with it, leaving a trail of milk.

Feeling more depressed, Cinder made a grab for the paper towel only to interrupted by Gabriel making the grab first. She inhaled in surprise.

"Sorry, just saw him run past the door and spilt it everywhere…and Tera wants breakfast too." He said.

Cinder looked down and saw the young girl hugging her plushie and looking away, seeming rather angry. Cinder took note of her night gown and recognized it right away.

"You…look really nice in those pajamas, Tera." Cinder said.

The girl looked up at Cinder, her anger replaced with surprise.

"You look just like Pyrrha."

Tera began to blush. "Do…do you think I can fight like her one day?"

Cinder smiled. "You're gonna have to train really hard, but I know you can do it."

The little girl smiled as Cinder prepared a bowl of cereal for her. She grabbed it and walked to the dining room, avoiding Gabriel as he cleaned up her mess. Tera sat next to Jack, who seemed ready to pick up his bowl and move to a new seat, when she placed her bowl down and hugged him. Right after letting go, she said she was sorry, to which Jack smiled back to her and they ate their breakfast.

"They're good kids." Cinder said.

"Yeah, been here since they were toddlers. Jack showed up on the doorstep three years ago, no parents or anyone. Just a knock at the door and there he was, asleep in a doggie bed. Tera showed up about three weeks later but with her parents. Apparently, she was the youngest of seven kids and they just couldn't deal with that many kids anymore. Haven't seen them around the city, so it's never been a concern." Gabriel said. He looked over to Cinder to find her becoming misty eyed. He couldn't bear to watch her break down. "Uh, hey! You…wanna watch a movie at my place?"

Cinder looked at him, wiping her eyes. "What? But, Michael-"

"Ah, screw him. It's my apartment too."

Cinder blushed. "Okay, well…what did you want to see?"

Once saying goodbye to the kids, Gabriel held Cinder in his arms and they flew back to the mountain to retrieve Cinder's bike. Cinder drove on the way back, Gabriel's face turning red the whole way as he was forced to hold her around her waist.

Michael was still in his room, out cold from the previous night. Cinder sat down on the couch and waited as Gabriel, pulled out a specific movie from the cabinet under the TV. Once inserting the blu-ray, Cinder read the description on the box.

"So…this is about a farm boy from a desert planet who meets an outlaw, a hairy alien, two robots, and a wizard so he can save a princess from an evil space empire?" Cinder asked awkwardly.

"…About the long and short of it." Gabriel responded.

Cinder raised her eyebrow and said, "Okay." In her mind, she was practically praying it wouldn't be as dumb as the box art implied. The supposed "villain" had the weirdest mask she'd ever seen, his mouth looking like a triangular air vent with his nose cut off. How could she possibly take this seriously?

While Ruby was beginning to understand and grasp control of her silver eyes, Weiss had sat down with Winter for their luncheon in a reserved room on the hotel's highest floor. Weiss had waited all week for this, a time in which she could just sit down with her siblings without needing her parents' approval.

"So…how's the military?" Weiss cautiously asked.

"…filled out reports, training, punished rookies for not saluting me properly, nothing out of the ordinary." Winter coldly replied.

"Do…you think Whitley will listen?"

"You're asking this question _now_? Did you seriously get me to set this all up without having a hundred percent faith in it going well? Do you know how hard it's been to keep Whitley quiet about you and your friends' presence?!"

Weiss expected such a reaction yet didn't know how to reply. As she looked down at her soup and saw her reflection, a girl looking distraught, the doors opened and walking through them was a stoic Whitley. He wore a navy-blue suit with black shoes, white tie, and his hair combed to the side. Weiss almost couldn't believe what she was seeing, her brother looking like an adult…with a stone-cold demeanor like their father. Suddenly everything became much more believable.

"You…look really good, Whitley." Weiss complimented, raising a confident smile.

Her brother didn't react, only stared at her and then sat down, to which Weiss's smile died and she and Winter sat down together.

"I'll have you know I'm on a tight schedule, so I'll give you five minutes to persuade me why I shouldn't call father and tell him his runaway daughter is hiding under his nose." Whitley threatened.

Weiss gulped and stood from her seat. "Okay, fair enough. Whitley, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Her brother raised one of his eyebrows. "Winter's been telling me how Father's been acting since I left, and…that wasn't fair to either of you. It's just that ever since I went to Beacon, I've met some of the greatest people from all around the world, and knowing they were in danger, I couldn't just leave them behind."

"Yes, you could." Whitley intervened, Weiss giving him a shocked glance. "It's called following Father's orders _and_ being there for you family. Judging by what I've seen on the news, the threats that attacked Haven Academy were dealt with without casualties. The residents of Menagerie, the huntsman named Qrow Branwen; if you ask me, your 'friends' seemed to have the odds stacked in their favor."

Winter kept her head in her teacup, curious of Weiss's next move, which was for her to stand up from her seat and move towards her brother.

"I'm guessing you believe that I'm the biggest coward you've ever known, right?" Weiss asked, to which Whitley gave one simple nod. "Well, you won't have to worry about me anymore. After locking Father in his study, it's safe to say I've guaranteed your chances of acquiring his seat." Whitley enjoyed what Weiss had to say, trying his hardest to keep from smiling. "And that's why I've come to a decision: I'm going to help my friends in keeping balance in the world as a huntress. The company is all yours."

At that moment, a pin dropping would be as loud as glass shattering. Whitley's eyes opened, as did Winter's, at Weiss's statement. Whitley became angry, standing up from his chair and staring directly into Weiss's eyes.

"OH! YES! GREAT IDEA! Sure, Weiss, just go off with your little huntress unit and save the world just like in the fairy tales! Maybe if you believe hard enough, the remaining White Fang terrorists will just give up! Maybe you'll just magically destroy all the grimm in the world and every nation from here to Menagerie will find everlasting peace! Just keep living the dream, right?!" Whitley couldn't keep his voice down.

Hearing his sister simply surrender to him without a fight wasn't at all what expected, let alone wanted. Weiss knew what it all was about, however. While her brother ranted in frustration, Weiss were her own stoic expression, a dash of sorrow added into it.

"I'm not saying it's that easy, and I know the world will never truly be at peace, but I've always wanted to help, just one thing at a time." She said, her brother staring her down with the same level of anger. "I came here today to tell you that. I want to do my part in making the world a better place, but I can't do it knowing that I left my family in Atlas on a bad note."

Whitley's eyes widened at her last statement, not leaving on a bad note but when she said, "family in Atlas". Had her new friends become her family, now? Was traveling the world with a band of misfits more welcoming to her than her blood relatives whom she's known her entire life?

"I understand if you can't forgive me, especially after causing Father so much stress." Weiss continued. "If you want me to leave either right after we eat or right this second, I won't resist. I just to know that we're okay."

All of Whitley's anger vanished from his expression, only surprise remaining. His scroll began to ring, to which he looked up the caller ID and his father's name was revealed. Weiss noticed it as well, her heart sinking at what the next few seconds had in store. Whitley answered the call.

"Yes, good day, Father…yes, I'll be there tonight, as promised…" He heard his father ask of his current whereabouts. "…I'm…just talking with Winter." His sisters' eyes opened wide, Weiss most pleased of her brother's secrecy. "…alright, I will. Thank you, Father."

He turned off his scroll and placed it back in his coat pocket. Just before doing so, however, he noticed five minutes had passed since he walked in the room. "Well, I still told him the truth, didn't I?" Winter simply shrugged while Weiss felt happy from seeing Whitley cover for her. Weiss rushed her brother and gave him a big hug, taking him by surprise entirely. Winter seemed surprised as well, and Whitley looked at her as if asking for further instructions.

"You're the best brother I could ever ask for, Whitley! I swear, you won't regret covering for me." She said, tightening her grip around his neck.

Whitley felt awkward, unaware of how to react. How long had it been since Weiss ever acted so nice to him, let alone hugged him? He responded in the only way he _thought_ would be correct, wrapping his arms around his sister's waist. Winter simply looked on at Weiss and Whitley acting out of the ordinary. Weiss let go, Whitley doing the same, and awaited his answer.

"So that's it? The company's just…all mine?" He asked.

Weiss nodded her head. "Yeah. All we need is just a little more time here and then we'll be on our way." Ruby's training with her eyes was still in progress, so a "little more time" may not have been the correct wording. She began to feel guilt, now feeling like she'd taken advantage of her brother.

Whitley sat down, his seat in between his sisters at their square table. Memories of their childhood came flooding back, the days where everyone would sit down, eat their food without a word, and leave to go about their day. The worst of those days was how Jacque would constantly parade around his daughters to the rest of the richest residents of Atlas, leaving Whitley to stand behind them. His only wish back then was to take Weiss and Winter's place as the center of attention, his father showing him off to everyone instead. Yet, despite that wish becoming a reality, Whitley only seemed to care about this particular meal. Of all his memories, not one came back of it just being him and his sisters. Not on vacations, not during concerts for other performers, even their rides to grade school were accompanied by Klein.

Before Whitley knew it, two hours had passed. He and Weiss did most of the talking, Winter chiming in only when asked…or when her sarcasm became too much to suppress. Weiss came here asking to leave on good terms, and Whitley saw no reason to decline.

 **Okay, so this took longer than I thought, and I'm sorry. I'm also trying to finish this story as fast as possible since school is literally around the corner and I** _ **really**_ **need to focus on academics this fall. I ended up splitting this chapter in two because I had so much stuff I wanted to put down. I'm gonna release right after this one is uploaded as well, so just give me a few seconds.**

 **You guys are the best!**


	14. Chapter 12, Phoenix Part 3

**Chapter 12. Phoenix, part 3**

 **Okay, I swear this is the last one. I'm sorry this has been taking so long and the last chapter seemed to be a cluster of exposition dumps, but I kept coming up with more ideas for this story that I may as well apply to RT so I can write on the actual show. This is where the story truly does feel like fanfiction, and after this, maybe, I'll release a page that's basically a wish list for Volume 6 (and yes, obviously Cinder's character arc and backstory will be on there, despite the entire fanbase not wanting her back).**

* * *

An orchestra played as the credits to the movie rolled. Gabriel danced along to the credits, golden letters appearing in front of a space background, while Cinder sat next to him wide-eyed. He looked over to her, barely able to contain his laugh at her shocked expression.

"Well…?" He asked, a large smirk on his face which begged to be hit.

Cinder looked away. "Yeah, it…uh…" She looked back at him. "…okay, that was actually pretty good."

The two broke out in laughter as Gabriel got up to remove the disk.

"You know, it's actually the first of a trilogy. We can watch the rest later if you want." He said.

Gabriel looked back at Cinder, who gave a gentle smile at him. "I'd like that." He smiled back, only to turn around again to hide his slightly blushing face.

Later that night, the two left for Junior's restaurant. Gabriel and Michael were setting up the stage while Cinder sat at the bar.

"So…I don't have to kick her out?" Junior asked.

"Well, Gabriel still trusts her, plus we don't have a squeaky-clean record ourselves, so…I'd say she's fine to stay." Miltiades answered.

Melanie finished her glass of soda and planted it firmly on the bar. "Michael hasn't made any moves, but if she screws up once, she's dead." She looked at her sister during that last part, as if implying a direct order, to which she nodded her head.

"You're not serious, Gabriel." Michael coldly said.

"Look, I already spoke to her. We'll look into apartments this week, ones that'll be far from our boarding house." Gabriel replied, Michael finding some satisfaction in it.

The thinner brother looked over at the maiden, sitting patiently at the table with only a glass of water by her side. Exiting the bathroom was their albino sister, fixing the sunglasses on her face, who noticed Cinder upon opening the door. The two girls saw each other, Cinder choking on her water as a response. Lucy made her way over to Cinder who tried to contain herself, her human hand shaking inside her sweatshirt pouch.

"You feelin' okay, Cindy?" Lucy asked.

Cinder looked away, feeling grave amounts of discomfort. "Y-Yeah. I'm gonna move out soon, so don't worry."

Lucy began to laugh. "What makes you think I'm worried? Have we not established I could burn you to a crisp with one step out of line? What's there to worry about?" Her bragging continued to discomfort Cinder. All she wished for now was for Lucy to simply step away. "Okay, look, I know I can be…a jerk, for lack of a better word…most of the time, but all I want is peace. Keep yourself out of trouble and we can go back to being best friends!" She made a cat face at the "best friends" part, something Cinder didn't know whether to take as a joke or a threat. Cinder gave her a simple nod and Lucy, the usual big grin on her face, walked towards the stage.

With a single sigh, felt Cinder relieved. Everyone knew who she was, where she slept, and no one would come after her. She finally felt more comfortable around everyone, including Lucy. The rest of the night went smoothly, Cinder and the audience enjoying every song the trio played until they hung up their equipment at closing time. She even giggled at the few times Gabriel couldn't help but look at her during the applause, as if her opinion was the most important.

Before the night had ended, Cinder took a bath in the brothers' apartment. Once finishing cleaning up, she spent twenty minutes just relaxing in the tub, the hot water stealing away all of her remaining stress. At one point she looked at her grimm arm again yet felt nothing. Neither remorse nor sadness, but rather relief; relief that this didn't have to be a problem.

Sunday was just a lazy day in which Gabriel and Cinder hung out in their apartment, playing video games and watching more of his blu-rays. He only took a break to do laundry. Meanwhile, Lucy kept to herself, Michael spent the day at Melanie's apartment, and Miltiades waited tables at the restaurant while Junior was at the bar. Come Monday, everyone would wake up early, show up to work, come home in the late evening, and repeat the next day. Before going to rest that night, however, Gabriel, wearing a long sleeve shirt and sweatpants, approached Cinder regarding a personal question.

"Hey, Cinder, you got a minute?" He asked her as she prepared the couch for the night.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked.

He looked at the sofa before looking back at her. "Well…I was just wondering…if you were tired of sleeping on the couch every night?"

Cinder raised her eyebrow. "Well…where else would I sleep?"

"I was thinking…not saying you have to, just an idea, but if you wanted to use _my_ bed, or at least for tonight?"

Now her eye widened, stunned by Gabriel's proposal. Was this a step in the correct direction? Was this a step too far for them both? More importantly, why didn't she feel inclined to say "no" right off the bat?

"Uh…I…" She paused, Gabriel ready to apologize and walk away, but not before saying, "…sure. Why not?"

Gabriel's face turned red as a tomato, Cinder try to hide her giggles so as to not embarrass him. That night, the two laid under Gabriel's sheets, freshly cleaned from earlier, watching an animated show about a girl who used a boy who could turn into a scythe. Before closing the laptop, Gabriel had one last question for Cinder.

"So…uh, Cinder. There's this restaurant downtown, really nice place, called 'Reunion'. If you want, you think you'd like to go there Saturday?" He asked, trying to keep himself from choking on his words.

Cinder felt her heart skip, trying to speak yet unable to verbalize her answer for several seconds. "Uh…yeah. That sounds great."

Gabriel's face lit up with happiness, followed by him telling her all the great things about the restaurant. Cinder just kept smiling as if in a trance, gazing at the larger man next to her as he continued to impress her.

The following few days repeated. Cinder would wait for Audwine to pick her up for work while everyone else did the same for their jobs. Come Thursday, Cinder arrived at the boarding house to be surprised to see Rachel standing by the stoop. Worried something had happened to Gabriel, Cinder rushed towards the elderly woman.

"Hey, did something happen?" She asked, looking and sounding anxious.

"No, no, nothing happened. It's just that Gabriel mentioned he wanted to take you to the Reunion on Saturday, correct?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's right?"

"Did he tell you that that's a five-star restaurant?"

Cinder's entire body turned white. Gabriel went that far for her? How much money was all of this going to cost?

"I…had no idea…" She stuttered.

"Look, if you're worried about money, just don't. Gabriel's eighteen; he's an adult, he can balance a checkbook just fine. What I'm worried about is you?" Cinder felt dumbfounded. What was wrong with her? "Do you have _anything_ to wear besides jean shorts and a sweatshirt?"

Now she realized the problem, looking down at herself and seeing an outfit that wouldn't be allowed to trespass _near_ the Reunion. "Well…look Gabriel just wants to hang out. I'll tell him we can go out somewhere cheap instea-"

Cinder was interrupted by Rachel grabbing her hand and pulling her down the sidewalk towards Austin Boulevard. "It's too late; apparently he made the reservations during his lunch break." Cinder felt her heart skip again; this place needed reservations? Then again, he _did_ say it was a five-star restaurant. "You got paid today, correct?"

Cinder came back to reality. "Er-yes!" She pulled out a paper check from her pocket, one worth four-hundred-fifty Lien.

"Good, 'cause you're paying for your dress, right now."

That last statement surprised Cinder. They came to the same department store across from Junior's restaurant Cinder visited before. Going inside, they examined all the dresses and gowns.

"Okay. Pick your favorite and we'll split it down the middle." Rachel said, Cinder feeling guilty from her offer. "Look, the reservation's already set and I want you two to have a good time, so don't worry about it."

Cinder obey Rachel's order and the two spent twenty minutes looking through the dresses. Memories of Salem came back, only to revert to memories of when she lived with her father and most of her clothing consisted of white dresses or shirts. Out of sheer luck, Cinder stumbled upon a mannequin wearing an ankle-length dress. It was white, off-the-shoulders, strapless, and wore white gown gloves and choker. She looked down at her grimm arm and then back at the gloves.

"That…is perfect." She thought, until seeing the price of six-hundred lien and her heart shattered.

In a single sigh, she looked away to look for a cheaper dress only for Rachel to grab her arm and stop her, examining the dress herself and then the price tag.

"C'mon, let's go see the register." She said.

"W-What?! Didn't you see the price?!" Cinder asked.

"I may be old, but my vision's just fine, thank you." Rachel s replied. "Really, it's not a big deal. We agreed you'd pay for a good chunk of it as well, so let's split it: you just pay two-hundred and I'll pay the remainder."

Cinder felt guilty from the offer but gave in, knowing Rachel wouldn't budge on the issue. Fifteen minutes had passed before Cinder stepped out of the dressing room, wearing the entire outfit, white pantyhose, and a pair of white high heels. Rachel showed her the mirror, Cinder stunned by how beautifully she fit into the dress, though the heels didn't feel right. The purple high heels she had, all that remained of what she drove into town with, were still in Gabriel's apartment. For the sake of saving money, she left the shoes behind and kept the dress and white pantyhose. They rang it up at the register and walked out, Rachel feeling satisfied and Cinder mixed between guilty and happy.

"I'm going to make sure Gabriel is also ready for Saturday. I've been dressing that boy properly since he could crawl, same goes for Michael and Lucy." Rachel said. Cinder never ceased to be amused by Rachel's tenacity. "Anyway, make sure to come to me right before the reservations. You'll need help getting into the dress and I'm fairly certain you don't want help from Lucy, right?"

Cinder turned away and frowned. Despite Lucy and her being at peace, Rachel was correct in that Cinder still didn't feel comfortable. The flashbacks to the barn caused her human hand to shake in her pouch, only to stop when the grimm hand grabbed it.

Two days had passed, Cinder and Gabriel hanging out together most of the day and finishing off the last two movies of that space war trilogy. Once eight o'clock, both of them came to the orphanage to meet with Rachel, Tera and Jack drawing pictures in the foyer. Tera's was that of rocks floating in the sky with Gabriel and Rachel flying with them, while Jack made a stick figure of Cinder and him holding hands.

Gabriel and Cinder stepped through the doors, gaining the attention of the kids. Jack ran to hug Cinder's leg and Tera did the same for Gabriel, only for Rachel to take Gabriel with her and leaving Cinder with them. Jack dragged her to the table and showed her his drawing, to which she responded with calling him an artist and running her human fingers through his black hair. Then Tera did the same thing, shoving her drawing up into Cinder's face, to which the maiden held back on her frustration and told her, with a smile, it looked great. Ten minutes later, Gabriel appeared in the foyer again, this time wearing dark blue slacks and jacket, brown dress shoes, a black belt, and a white dress shirt with an under shirt.

Cinder turned around to see him and stood up, looking amused, by what he had changed into. She felt as if in a trance as she slowly approached him, the smell of cologne drawing her in further.

"So, what do you think?" Rachel asked, Gabriel looking down as if expecting the worst.

Cinder snickered. "You look adorable."

Rachel smiled at that and Gabriel looked up in shock, his face red again. Now it was Cinder's turn. She went with Rachel to her room and she sat down in front of her vanity. Rachel took a spray bottle full of water and sprayed Cinder's hair, then used a brush to bring most of her hair to the side so it would look symmetrical. Next was makeup: red lipstick, black eyeshadow and eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, and, most importantly, a light skin makeup to cover the scar.

"You didn't have to do this." Cinder told her, sounding almost saddened.

"But I want to. I want you to stay this way, no longer giving into evil or any desire for power. I want you and Gabriel to both be happy." Rachel replied, Cinder's spirits raised just a tad. "Just one last thing I'd like to get off my chest, however. It's about the two of you." Cinder looked back at her. "Lucy has no interest in the outside world; she's perfectly comfortable living in this little corner of Anima and there's nothing I can do to change her mind. Michael's the same way, but I think I can get him, and hopefully the twins, out of this city and into the real world, possibly to work as huntsmen for hire. Gabriel, on the other hand…he's gonna need help leaving."

"W-What do you mean?" Cinder asked, sounding confused.

"Fegefeuer has been a blessing for us, giving us shelter when Vacuo held too many painful memories. I know Gabriel; he doesn't want to leave this city, not while the orphans here need a family. While dedicating your life to children is admirable, that's not a way to live one's life."

"But if he leaves, and you…you know, who's going to run this place?"

"That's a good question; I'll have to hold interviews, call out to people living in Mistral's capital to take over. Regardless, I don't want the three of them to spend the remainder of their days in this godforsaken city. Lucy's already made up her mind, and maybe the outside world is better off without her, but the boys can still leave and explore the world."

"Explore the world." Those words rang through Cinder's head. She began to blush, honored by how much Rachel trusted her.

"Okay, done." Rachel said, moving out of the way of the mirror.

Upon seeing herself, Cinder took a deep gasp as her eye widened.

Downstairs, Gabriel was doing pushups with Jack and Tera on his back, their way of "helping with exercising" as they often called it. He laid down behind the couch, out of the line of sight of the hallway to the bedrooms. The kids laughed and cheered him on with each push up until Cinder and Rachel stepped into the foyer, the kids high enough to see them and stop making noises the second they both saw Cinder. Jack made a loud, "Wow!" while Tera shouted, "You look so pretty!" Gabriel, curious by their outbursts, placed them on the couch and stood up. His entire mind went blank when he finally noticed Cinder, standing before him in a white dress with her gloved arms united at the hands. She looked nervous, as if his opinion was the only thing that mattered to her. Most notable was her face; how great a job Rachel did with hiding the scar to where now Cinder just looked like she was simply closing her left eye.

"Well, what do you think, Gabriel?" Rachel smugly asked.

He stood there for several seconds until he answered her question with one of his own. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

The two maidens giggled at his awkwardness, his face turning red like always. Jack hid behind the arm of the couch, amazed by how beautiful Cinder looked. Tera, however, grew angry once noticing Jack's reaction and ran out of the room towards the hallway, all of the adults aware of her random exit.

"Here, I'll go check on her." Rachel said, tossing a set of car keys to Gabriel and following the little girl to wherever she ran off to.

The two of them looked back at each other until Gabriel guided her to the garage. Cinder followed along, but not without feeling concern for Tera. She noticed Jack still at the couch as they walked out, and waved goodbye with a comforting smile. They entered the garage and found Rachel's car, nothing too special but new enough to look good.

The car ride was short, the both of them enjoying the light rock station Rachel left the radio tuned to until they arrived at the restaurant. Cinder felt amazed, gazing at the dome-shaped building with people lining up outside its entrance in fancy attire as well. Once they parked, Gabriel noticed women being escorted by men towards the building with their hands on the man's arms. He looked over to Cinder, who noticed the same thing and made a grab for his elbow. They smiled as they looked into each other's eyes and headed for the entrance, Cinder resting her head on his shoulder.

Getting in was no problem since Gabriel already had the reservation. Upon entering the building, Cinder was stunned by the appearance of the inside. Towards the back was an orchestra of maybe twenty people; the tables were all rounded and had plenty of space in between each other; and the roof to the dome had the gods of light and darkness painted above, stars and clouds along with them. Standing on the clouds as well were three angels. Cinder noticed them immediately, feeling discomfort upon recognizing them. The lighting, as well, was beautiful, having a single chandelier above lit by candles, giving the room enough light to maneuver around but dark enough to set a romantic mood.

As they were guided to a table, Cinder felt a touch of guilt, wondering how much this must've cost Gabriel to put together. She wanted to ask until she recalled Rachel's stubbornness to make all of this happen. While the waiter took their order, the orchestra began a new song and some of the customers got up to waltz.

"Place seems really nice." Cinder said.

"Yeah, Rachel sets up a reservation at least once a year for me, herself, and all the orphans. Aside from them, the only people who usually come here are the richest in the city. Business owners, police, or executives for the Schnee mines. Thought you'd like it." Gabriel replied.

Saying Cinder liked it would be an understatement.

While the young couple continued their date, Rachel prepared all the children for bed. Once everyone was placed in bed, Rachel returned to her own, taking her pills and easing into a deep slumber. Meanwhile, Tera and a few other girls got out of their bunks and made a circle.

"Okay, once everyone's asleep, we'll pull the prank." Tera ordered.

"This has to be your best one yet, Tera." One of the girls remarked, an evil grin on her face.

Within an hour-and-a-half, the two had finished their meals and Gabriel paid the check. As they spent another few minutes talking, a song familiar to Cinder began to play.

"This seem familiar?" Gabriel asked, sounding sarcastic.

"Yeah, but…I'm not sure where." She answered.

"Wanna take a guess?"

She thought about it and within a few seconds, an answer came to light. "It's an old church song, from my childhood." Gabriel smiled to reveal her guess to be true. He then extended his hand in an offer to dance, to which she gladly took it with her human arm. They entered the dance floor and Gabriel placed his hands around Cinder's upper back while she placed hers around his neck.

"…Guess this is a bad time to mention I'm not much of a dancer." Gabriel warned.

"Really? You said you've been here before." Cinder remarked.

"Yeah, and my dance partner every year was an older woman who would tell me I'm great no matter how terrible I actually was."

Cinder snickered at that. She grabbed his wrists and moved his hands further down her waist, Gabriel, yet again, turning red, feeling he was in uncharted territory. Anxious, Gabriel looked around and found the main clock standing above the band, reading ten-thirty. Things have gone smooth so far, but hopefully that wouldn't change.

"You know, I never would've predicted this." Cinder said, Gabriel looking down at her with confusion. "When I first got here, I felt depressed and lost, like my life should've ended long ago. I spent so much time trying to become powerful, wanting people to fear the very mention of my name and not caring in the slightest about anyone besides myself. But…" She looked up at Gabriel, her eye closed, revealing her eye shadow, then opened it, revealing a teary amber orb. "…I would rather live _this_ life, even if for just a day, instead of _that_ life for eternity."

Gabriel's face became more serious. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Something tells me even if you _did_ achieve that life, you still wouldn't find any happiness. As cheesy as it sounds, I like seeing you happy." She gave him a vague smile.

They stared into one another's eyes, appreciating the beauty each one saw in the other. Without realizing it, they had stopped waltzing altogether while everyone else continued to dance.

Back at the orphanage, the girls snuck downstairs to the kitchen, climbed onto the counter to get a bowl and fill it with tap water, and carefully returned up to their room. Tera brought it up and they all stood by the side of Jack's bed. The young boy laid on his bed, _supposedly_ asleep, while one of them made a grab for his arm.

"Okay, put the bowl by his leg, Tera." One of the girls instructed, Tera standing still with a cluster of mixed feelings. "What are you waiting for? This was your idea."

"I-It's just…maybe we don't have to-" Tera reasoned before being interrupted.

"Look, if him talking about Miss Cinder makes you angry, then teach him a lesson. Besides, he's just a gross, smelly, dumb boy anyway."

At that moment, Jack stood up and grabbed the one girl's arm. "Who are you calling 'dumb', idiot?"

The girls tried not to shriek in surprise, else Rachel would overhear and everyone but Jack would be grounded.

"How'd you wake up?" Tera asked.

"I wasn't sleeping. I know what you're trying to do and I'm not falling for it." Jack replied.

Tera looked ashamed, only for another girl to step up. "Well, maybe if you stopped going all googly-eyed over Miss Cinder, we'd leave you alone. What's so great about her anyway?"

"What are you, blind? She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen." Jack's proclamation cut deep into Tera's heart. "She's smarter, cooler, and, again, way prettier than any you will ever be!"

With her fingers tightening on the bowl, Tera stepped forward and, with every possible ounce of strength, tossed the bowl of water at Jack. The other girls gasped and some of the other kids woke up at the water's splash.

Rachel woke up to hear the sounds of loud bickering, nearly facepalming once she realized the time and thought, "Well, at least it's not _that_ late." She got up from her bed and walked down the hall to the kids' bedroom, discovering her ears did not deceive her. Jack was soaking wet with most of the girls, and some of the other kids, laughing at him.

"Wow, Jack. I've never seen _anyone_ wet the bed _that_ badly!" One of the girls joked.

Jack felt an intense anger stirring inside him. Though this wasn't his fault, he wanted nothing more than to simply disappear. He looked around the room, most of the other kids laughing at the previous joke except for Tera, who just looked mortified by what she had done. As he stared angrily at her, she became overwhelmed with regret.

Rachel became overwhelmed with disgust and sorrow, angry by what the group of girls did to Jack. She rushed over to scold them.

"What are you doing? Tera, why did you get Jack all wet?" Rachel asked.

Tera, still mortified, looked over at Jack who began to tear up. Under his breath, he began chanting something. "Miss Cinder…Miss Cinder…" Filled with the need to redeem herself, Tera jumped onto Jack's cot and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Jack." She said.

"Get off me!" Jack said, trying to push her off but to avail. She still held onto him regardless of how much he struggled.

Jack opened his eyes and saw all the kids staring at the two of them, some of the girls appearing angry at him again. Rachel appeared cautious, hoping this would turn out well miraculously. Confusion, guilt, anger, sadness, so many negativity swirling in him, and all he wanted was to vanish, or at least be comforted by Cinder. As Rachel exhaled in a sigh of exhaustion, she noticed Jack and Tera's bodies beginning to glow, and she became worried the instant she recognized it.

Jack continued chanting Cinder's name, unaware of his body glowing, his aura birthing. Tera opened her eye to see the field of life energy enveloping her as well. In a single flash of light, as quick as a blink of an eye, the two kids vanished in thin air. All the jaws in the room dropped and Rachel felt her heart nearly stop.

Gabriel looked deeper into the amber eye of his dance partner, her face drawing closer to him to perform an act of trust and compassion. Both of them held their breath and continued to lean towards each other, hearts beating as fast and hard as drums, until a bright flash of light blanketed the entire restaurant followed by the sound of something hitting a table. They heard everyone gasp and stopped before their lips had touched, looking over to the center of the commotion. Cinder and Gabriel pushed through the crowd of dancers until they could see their table, Jack and Tera sitting on the edge.

"Jack? Tera?" Gabriel shouted in shock.

The two kids looked over at the two adults, everyone looking as confused as ever. That confusion was quickly replaced with shock when the table began to tilt from the kids' mass on the edge. Before anyone knew what was happening, the table fell down and the kids, along with the dishes, glasses, and silverware, came crashing down as well. Everyone gasped in shock, Gabriel and Cinder feeling fear. They rushed to see the kids and saw Jack's aura flickering as he got up and brushed himself off. Tera, however, began to cry as she gripped her arm, Cinder and Gabriel's hearts cracking once seeing a plate shard buried in her palm.

"TERA!" They both shouted and rushed to her side.

As staff was rushing to get clean towels and gauze for the little girl, Gabriel held Tera's other hand while Cinder prepared to pull out the shard.

"Okay, looks like it didn't hit any bone or tendon." Cinder calmly told her. "Alright, Tera? I'm going to pull it out now, okay? This may hurt a little, but I have to do it, okay?"

Tera, eyes full to bursting, nodded at Cinder and held Gabriel's hand, squeezing it as Cinder pulled the shard out. Once out, she began to whimper only to be immediately comforted by Gabriel, Jack still standing to the side and shaken up by the past few minutes.

Once she stopped crying, Gabriel got out his scroll and called Rachel. "Hey Rach, uh, do you know where Jack and Tera are?"

On the other end, Rachel was still in the kids' room, her hand on her chest and tears streaming down her face. "WHAT?! DO YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE?!"

"Yeah, yeah. They…they're here, with us…they just…appeared."

Rachel felt a wave of relief and, immediately after, one of confusion. How did they end up there of all places? "O-Okay, just, please bring them home."

The four of them began to leave the restaurant, Gabriel holding Tera with the gauze still wrapped around her hand and Jack holding Cinder's hand on the way out. As they exited the building, one woman looked to her husband and said, "What a cute family."

As they drove home, Cinder sat in the back with the kids, Jack resting his head on her lap and Tera staring out the window. Cinder examined Jack's clothes, wondering why they were wet, to which she asked Tera. Her explanation gave Cinder a hint of guilt.

Upon arriving at the house, Rachel waited outside in her nightgown and bathrobe, her heart easing at the sight of the two children. Gabriel opened both doors and let them out, only for Tera to follow Cinder on her way out. Both Rachel and Gabriel felt surprised by Cinder letting both kids hold her hands. They went upstairs, everyone crowding Tera and Jack upon them. Of course, Tera got most of the attention with her hand wound and Jack was shrugged to the side. The young boy took one last look at the adults, seeing Gabriel give a thumbs up and Cinder waving goodbye, to which he waved back. They walked down the hall towards the foyer.

"Thank you so much for bringing them home safely." Rachel said. "Judging by his aura, I think Jack activated his semblance for the first time, tonight."

"Yeah, it's teleportation. The only question is _how_ it works." Cinder added.

"Well, before they vanished, I heard him vaguely saying your name. Does that mean he locks onto people he knows?"

Cinder then recalled Raven's portal semblance. "If that's the case, does it have to be someone he's emotionally attached to or just someone he makes physical contact with?"

"Actually," Gabriel added, "he's been to that restaurant before, so is it rather that he can travel to places he's been to?"

"For all we know, it could be a combination of all three. For now, I'd say just to keep a close eye on them. Last thing I need is him poofing in front of me at my job." Cinder said.

The trio had reached the door, Cinder and Gabriel standing on the porch. "Well, that's _my_ job I suppose. You two have a good night!" Rachel said, hugging them both as they left.

Within twenty minutes, the two made it back to Gabriel's living room, Michael asleep in the next room with Melanie passed out under his arm.

"Gotta say, never had a date like that before." Gabriel joked.

"I know right?" Cinder responded. "Though…not bad for a first date."

Gabriel looked back at Cinder, who still gave that same comforting smile she'd had all night. "That's right," he thought, "This was a first for her, too."

"Oh dammit." Cinder cursed, drawing Gabriel's attention as he took off his jacket.

She showed him her gloves, both stained at the fingertips by Tera's blood. Feeling distraught, she removed them and placed them on the couch to wash, only to be greeted by her grimm arm. Gabriel came up to her.

"You know, I'm proud of you." He stated, her eyebrow raising. "I think you handled everything pretty well. Hell, she outright admitted to being jealous of you and you still managed to calm her down."

Cinder looked away. "Well…I'm not sure I could pull it off again." She walked towards the window between the couch and TV. "I'm still getting used to things around here, like anything could happen tomorrow and I wouldn't know what to do." She looked down at her grimm arm. "Like…I'm just an accident waiting to happen."

Gabriel approached her again, taking Cinder's breath away by taking her grimm hand in his own.

"I don't see it. You've made bad decisions in the past, but it's all behind you now. You're still alive, and you can still do good things." Gabriel preached.

Cinder's human hand began to shake, predicting the next few seconds. Both her heart and Gabriel's beat as hard as drums, feeling as though they would burst from their chests. She rotated her hand so her palm would be facing his, and their hands dropped to their sides to interlock fingers. They looked deep into one another's eyes, knowing full well what the other was thinking, leaning into each other's faces, and their lips met softly.

Ten minutes later, they were in Gabriel's bed, tucked under the covers and wearing normal clothes. Gabriel still wore his sweatpants and long-sleeve shirt and Cinder wore her sweatshirt…but just wearing her underwear and not jean shorts. They slept well that night, Cinder under Gabriel's arm, her grimm hand placed on his chest, and their heads turned toward each other.

* * *

Sitting on the bed in her hotel room, Ruby concentrated her eyes again. They glowed the same silver that they had been the last two weeks. She felt as if she could break the sound barrier with her semblance, sense the auras surrounding her in the room, even crush a stone with her thumb and index finger. Her friends around her all glared at the amazing show the young warrior displayed, Yang feeling proud of her sister's newfound strength.

Running down the hallway at his maximum velocity, a blonde swordsman had an urgent news report on his scroll. He beat on team RWBY's door repeatedly until Weiss opened the door.

"You know, Jaune, we heard you after the first few-" Weiss said, before Jaune brushed past her to reach his youngest comrade.

"Ruby, you need to see this!" Jaune shouted at her.

The young girl turned her eyes off and examined the young paladin's scroll, a blanket of fear overwhelming her as she saw the week-old news report.

* * *

An airship strode through the clouds to Atlas, its pilot steadily guiding the yoke steering wheel while talking to the control tower.

"Alright, 131, you are clear to land." The operator within the tower advised.

"Thank you. Will be landing immediately." The pilot replied, turning off the radio and resuming his state of panic.

Adam stood up from behind the pilot's seat, his katana pointed at the man's back in case he attempted to blow their cover. In the hull stood the remaining intruders.

Watts paced around the floor of the hull, his scroll out to keep track of their location. Emerald sat on a dust crate while Mercury laid back against the wall, his arms crossed. He looked at his green-haired comrade, still concerned of her actions. After what they had found a week prior, a report from a news website based in some town called "Fegefeuer", now was their one and only chance to escape Salem's clutches.

"Once we touch down, we'll come up with some excuse to split away from Adam." Mercury thought. "Once we do, we'll come back, hijack the ship again, and go straight to Mistral."

Emerald had the news report pulled up on scroll, the cave-in at the Fegefeuer mines, and one of the workers, a goat faunas, being interviewed. She mentioned a fellow worker with amber eyes and that she "created this force field that brought us out safely" and that she "had an eye that would glow like fire". Emerald's eyes began tearing up at the mine worker's dialogue, hoping this heroic worker truly was whom she thought it to be.

Mercury noted Emerald's eyes, hoping for the best as well. "Cinder, if you truly are alive, just sit tight. We'll be with you soon."

* * *

 **Holy God, it's finally over! Yes, yes, I have some explaining to do, but let me say thank you to everyone who's been reading from the start. Writing this fanfic has, in my opinion, gotten my feet wet as a writer. I'll admit I'm an amateur and the last chapter (as in all three parts) may not have been what a lot of people wanted to see, so allow me to clarify:**

 **Volume 6 is premiering in late October and this entire story is my own take on the events following Volume 5. I'm a huge fan of villains, but I feel like Rwby really missed the mark on them last volume. For whatever reason, they completely regressed on Cinder; Volume 4 made it seem like she would change in some way, shape, or form. Hell, in Volume 3 Yang developed PTSD from having her arm cut off and Blake abandoning her. Cinder presumably had her arm cut off too, lost her eye, her voice, and most of her mobility…yet never developed any mental scars? Wouldn't it be interesting if she was somewhat intimidated by Ruby? Anything but smug?! But no, she became smug again.**

 **As for this last chapter actually feeling like a fanfiction, I just wanted to make Cinder happy. "Phoenix" is my ship name for Cinder and Gabriel. Originally, the ending scene with them in bed was going to end with them taking each other's virginities and Cinder falling asleep in Gabriel's arms with his wings expanded and wrapping around the both of them. Before that, Jack and Tera were going to dance with Cinder and Gabriel in the middle of the foyer (because "fanfiction"). This was meant to hammer in Cinder's maternal instinct towards the two kids, because, if this story continued, Jack's semblance would've come in handy.**

 **Characters like Cinder, Gabriel, and Lucy I got inspiration from Berserk. Lucy's design and Saber were inspired by Griffith. Gabriel's build with Cinder's small height was inspired by the romance between Guts and Casca. Hell, them having sex was also inspired by the scene Guts and Casca had in the woods. Though, it wouldn't have been anything explicit, more subtle like the love scene in "Parasyte: The Maxim", as in Cinder monologuing how far she's come, what Gabriel means to her, and a shot of their interlocked fingers (Gabriel would be holding Cinder's grimm arm.)**

 **I also mentioned Pyrrha a lot in this series, mainly because I feel like they didn't mention her enough in Volumes 4 and 5 (Ren and Nora don't even say her name. She was just a reason for Jaune to be more angsty and for Ruby to activate her eyes for the first time.)**

 **If the story continued, Ruby and her friends would go back to Mistral to make sure Cinder would face justice and Emerald and Mercury would get there too to reunite with her in hopes she'd continue Salem's plan (kind of a "after all the hard work we've put in for the past XX years" type scenario). At their reunion, Emerald would stutter and feel guilt in leaving Cinder at Haven, whereas Cinder would forgive her by hugging her and saying, "I missed you too". Emerald breaks down crying and hugs back while Mercury looks surprised then relieved. Eventually, there'd be a conflict between Lucy and Ruby to which Lucy would emerge the victor and everyone, Cinder's and Ruby's sides, fights together in an epic battle to defeat Lucy (much like how Lucifer was cast out of Heaven). Such and such events happen to where all the anger derived at her eventually ceases. If this story continued, Emerald and Mercury would die defending Cinder to which she would live on, thinking of them everyday as a reminder of how precious life can be. She would serve several years in prison until release and she and Gabriel would have one child together who would inherit Gabriel's wings and Cinder's amber eyes. If it's a boy, his name would be Comet. If it's a girl, her name would be Phoenix.**

 **As for Salem, my theory on her beef with Ozpin (i.e. the three angels I mentioned in chapter 5) would be that Salem, Ozpin, and another character were all children of the two gods of Remnant. Salem was the angel of grimm, Ozpin was the angel of humanity, and the third character was the angel of magic. In the beginning, the grimm were a race of people who looked exactly like Salem but were entities of peace and even feared humanity. The characters in the locket were her deceased husband and daughter. In a strong desire of power, Ozpin killed the angel of magic to absorb his magical abilities and, because he deemed humanity dominant over the grimm, used his magical abilities to turn all of the grimm people into the monsters we know today. Salem was the only one unaffected by his magic, however, and told the two gods of Ozpin's evil. They took away his body and left Remnant to fend for itself, but not before Ozpin used his magic to make his soul immortal, thus is why he's able to swap hosts after death. With her lover and daughter turned into monsters and killed by humans, Salem now wishes to gather the relics together created by the gods so she can expose the truth to the world and then destroy them.**

 **So yeah, my theory is that Ozpin's been the actual villain the entire time and is too much of a coward to accept what he's done. He claims he's teaching new generations of huntsmen with an absurdist philosophy, that humans spending eternity fighting grimm is the only thing to give them purpose outside of going to war with each other. Also, because no one's said it yet, Raven turning into a bird** _ **ISN'T**_ **weird. Someone said it defies aura/semblance because it physically changes the body…except her semblance is opening portals, which is the breakdown and reintegration of matter…so the argument that turning into a bird is weird is wrong.**

 **Anyway, thanks again for the wild ride, guys. Maybe I'll come back in the winter…or not. Either way, this was great and I hope you all have a wonderful day. Here's to Volume 6!**


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